Watch the Digital Asset Summit 2025 NYC's Recap Talk.

MICHAEL IPPOLITO, BLOCKWORKS - Co-founder: Institutional Interest in Crypto is Real, But It's Not Evenly Distributed.

Michael highlighted how institutions are driving crypto forward — but not everyone’s benefiting. While stablecoins, treasuries, and private credit are flowing on-chain, “many new assets did not reach their previous all-time highs,” and innovation has stalled. “We didn’t make anything new this last cycle outside of perhaps meme coins.” His warning: institutional gravity is reshaping crypto’s core, and controllers should watch how financial data from tokenized RWAs (like on-chain treasuries) will soon integrate with their reporting workflows.

MELTEM DEMIROS, CRUCIBLE - Founder: Crypto’s Growth Is an Illusion Without Bitcoin and ETH.

Demirors broke down a brutal stat: without Bitcoin and ETH, crypto hasn’t grown in market share or trading volume in the last five years. Her deeper point? Institutions are profiting from the infrastructure — not participating in innovation. Stablecoins alone generated $8.7B in net interest margin for just two issuers (USDT &USDC). For financial controllers, this is the data to watch: cash flow from tokenized treasuries, interest earnings on stablecoin floats, and how fees are structured across DeFi vs TradFi rails. Expect pressure to track stablecoin-related income, custody flows, and off-chain-to-on-chain conversions with new granularity.

DAVID MERCE, LMAX - CEO: The Credit Layer is Missing — But Not for Long. 

David made it clear: institutions aren’t rushing into crypto just yet, but they’re preparing for it. He predicts that by 2026, half of the top 40 global banks will touch digital assets. What’s holding them back? Lack of credit infrastructure and proper market structure. Financial controllers should prepare now for new inflows by upgrading how they classify risk, segregate funds, and align wallet data with counterparties. Expect a future where segregated functions — custodians, exchanges, brokers — are required for compliance-grade reporting.

• • Institutions aren’t rushing into crypto just yet, but they’re preparing for it. 
  • He predicts that by 2026, half of the top 40 global banks will touch digital assets. 
  • What’s holding them back? Lack of credit infrastructure and proper market structure. 
  • Expect a future where segregated functions — custodians, exchanges, brokers — are required for compliance-grade reporting.

RICHARD TENG, BINANCE US - CEO: Growth from 170M to 240M users last year without retail.

It was institutional. Funds, treasuries, and governments are stepping in with structured mandates — including interest-earning stablecoins and tri-party custody agreements. Controllers should prepare to audit and reconcile custodial flow agreements, yield-on-stablecoin mechanisms, and the cash equivalent classification of these new structures on balance sheets.

HADLEY STERN, MARINADE - Chief Commercial Officer: Solana's Stake Transparency Will Affect Reconciliation.

Stern mentioned the Solana Foundation is prioritizing stake transparency tools to track who delegates to whom. That level of on-chain clarity will soon become the baseline. Finance teams using SOL-based staking will be expected to disclose validator relationships, stake source, and returns in both financial reporting and audits. Treating validator expenses like operational infrastructure — with depreciation, hosting, and direct staking rewards now hitting the books.

• • Solana Validator Ecosystem is Thriving with over 1,300 geographically dispersed validators of varying sizes(Jito and Fire Dancer)
  • Stern emphasized that native staking is safer (no smart contract risk and retained custody. Liquid is for DeFi.
  • Solana validators now earn from multiple revenue sources, including inflation rewards, Jito tips, etc.
  • Governance is working in Solana’s Favor, showing that validators retain strong influence over protocol decisions.

SERGEY NAZAROV, CHAINLINK - Co-Founder: Oracles Will Be the Backbone of Institutional Onchain Finance.

Nazarov emphasized that reliable, external data feeds are critical to scaling crypto beyond speculation. Oracles aren't just price feeds — they’re how onchain systems verify events, enforce contracts, and anchor RWAs to real-world outcomes. Without trusted oracles, tokenized assets and DeFi credit markets can't function at scale. For financial controllers, this means oracle data will soon influence everything from NAV calculations to audit trails — and disclosures may need to include how data was sourced and verified.

MIKE CAHILL, PYTH NETWORK - CEO: Exchanges Don’t Agree on the Same Price — And That’s a Problem.

Cahill explained how token prices vary widely across centralized and decentralized venues — sometimes by several percentage points. This creates inconsistencies in financial reporting, trade execution, and reconciliation. “What you see isn’t always what you can trade,” he noted. To address this, Cahill called for better market data — including institutional-grade reference rates and APIs built for compliance. For financial controllers, this means moving away from consumer price feeds and adopting sources that align with audit and fair value requirements.

MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, ALLIANZ - Chief Economic Advisor: Crypto’s Biggest Bottleneck Isn’t Tech — It’s Trust and Policy.

Mohamed El-Erian warned that crypto still lacks a stable, trusted core — the kind of infrastructure traditional finance builds around. He expects a multi-year timeline where tokenized funds, stablecoins, and new custody rails gradually find their way into the financial system. The most important breakthroughs, he said, will come from regulatory clarity, not code. “Technology is no longer the bottleneck.”

DAN TAPIERO, 10T HOLDINGS - CEO Settlement Finality and Ongoing Reconciliation Are the Endgame.

Tapiero argued that traditional finance’s 2-day settlement model will look archaic compared to blockchain’s instant finality. With tokenized assets settling in real time, finance teams should start planning for continuous reconciliation, intraday reporting, and new audit expectations based on immutable ledger entries.

• • $3 Trillion in Digital Assets, institutional comfort remains the key hurdle holding back mass adoption.
  • Tapiero believes that listing crypto-native companies on major exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ) will create legitimacy.
  • Faster Settlements Through Tokenization. Institutions like JPMorgan are, they’re reducing settlement times from days to seconds, moving traditional assets on-chain.
  • Tapiero expects the new regulatory shift to attract global talent to the U.S. and catalyze institutional interest in digital assets.

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): 2025 Could Be the Year That Brings Regulatory Clarity. 

Rep. Emmer pointed to next year’s Congress and potential leadership changes as the inflection point for digital asset law. If passed, stablecoin legislation could impose reserve disclosures, audit mandates, and licensing in statutory financial statements.

DAN SMITH, BLOCKWORKS – Data Analytics Manager: Blockchain Revenue Is a Mirage Without Real User Payments.

When somebody says ‘blockchain revenue,’ my question is—revenue to whom?” Dan’s point was clear: the crypto industry lacks a consistent definition of revenue. What’s often presented as income is muddled by burn mechanics, staking flows, or tokenomics. He proposed “REV”—Real Economic Value—as a standardized top-line based on actual user payments. For controllers, the so-what is this: you can’t rely on default dashboard metrics. Dig deeper before treating protocol earnings as financial revenue​.

DONALD J. TRUMP – 45th POTUS: Trump Backs Self-Custody and Mining — Not CBDCs.

Trump doubled down on his opposition to central bank digital currencies and emphasized protecting American rights to self-custody Bitcoin. His message drew clear lines between permissionless crypto and state-controlled finance. Trump stated the U.S. must become “the undisputed crypto capital of the world.” For accounting teams, this could shape custody rules and reporting expectations based on future regulatory leadership.

STACI WARDEN, ALGORAND FOUNDATION – CEO: Crypto Rails Can Modernize Global Finance, Interoperable, Composable, and Transparent.

Warden argued that building financial systems on blockchain gives us a chance to avoid legacy traps. She emphasized that “crypto is not a liability-based framework…it is actually digital cash,” arguing it can modernize global finance with more “efficient” and “composable” systems. “If you look at the financial markets, they look like crochet…they’re beautiful on one side, very seamless, but if you turn it over, there’s all kinds of nonsense going on in the back office,” she noted. By allowing everyone to “just write to one ledger,” Warden explained, blockchain rails can eliminate unnecessary intermediaries: “all of this can be done in code.”  Controllers in web3 should watch for tech that integrates cleanly with ERP systems and embraces transparent, immutable data.

MICHAEL SAYLOR, MICROSTRATEGY – Executive Chairman: Recording BTC as a treasury staple, not short-term trade.

Saylor built on his “digital property” thesis, warning CFOs that treating BTC like a short-term trade ignores its long-term treasury utility. He called Bitcoin “the apex asset,” describing it as perfect money with a fixed supply. Saylor foresees trillions in corporate capital shifting to this “digital gold” and urged leaders to see it as a long-term treasury reserve. A takeaway for controllers could be to treat Bitcoin as an emerging standard—its scarcity, global appeal, and network effect will reshape balance sheets. Missing out, he warned, means forfeiting the 21st century’s biggest opportunity.