US legislation and Binance’s compliance-focused growth have integrated crypto into traditional finance, fueling record-breaking institutional and retail adoption in 2025.
For years, Wall Street was hesitant to move into crypto with full force. Largely, due to the regulatory uncertainty. Financial institutions circled the industry with interest but didn’t make a complete pivot towards the space.
Now, however, this has changed significantly. Following the passage of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act by the U.S. Congress last August, the U.S. keeps advancing towards regualtory clarity.
At this year’s Binance Blockchain Week 2025, industry speakers in a panel discussion titled “The Path Ahead” discussed how they believe that these regulatory changes have already started to influence institutional behavior, setting the stage for further expansion in the coming year.
“I haven’t been this optimistic about crypto in years—2026 will be a breakout year,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. “Regulatory clarity in the world’s largest economy is a game changer. People are under-pricing that.”
From Gray Zone to Regulatory Clarity
The CLARITY Act seeks to resolve issues that have remained unresolved regulatory gray zones. For instance, prior to this act, there was a lack clarity over which federal regulatory agency should oversee crypto.
To address this, the act sets forth a formal classification system. This system divides digital assets into three categories: digital commodities, investment contract assets (securities), and permitted payment stablecoins. With this, it now clear whether a particular asset should be regulated by the SEC or by the CFTC.
The act also resolves much of the uncertainty that prevented mainstream financial institutions from investing heavily into digital asset activities. Per the act, such institutions can now assess risk, build up their own crypto infrastructure, as well as commit capital to this space.
Finally, the CLARITY act also enables crypto assets to be traded through broker-dealers, national securities exchanges, as well as alternative trading systems. This marks a direct integration of crypto into the traditional market’s infrastructure.
Transforming Exchanges, Driving Retail and Institutional Adoption
No longer targets for regulatory enforcement, as countries establish regulatory frameworks, exchanges are becoming compliance-first, global liquidity hubs. Binance is a key example of this change in action.
“We’re now the most regulated crypto entity globally—21 jurisdictions and counting,” said Binance co-CEO Richard Teng. “We made some missteps early on, but Binance today is a different company—22% of our team works in compliance.” Teng emphasized that institutional onboarding is already accelerating. “We’ve doubled institutional onboarding year-on-year—the long-term trend is crystal clear,” he said. “The best is yet to come—institutions are only just getting started in crypto.”
Just as institutions are starting to enter the space at record numbers, retail adoption continues to rise as well. Binance recently reached the 300 million user milestone showing the maturity of the crypto market and the strength of the Binance ecosystem. “Reaching 300 million registered users is a milestone that humbles us deeply. It took nearly five years to reach our first 100 million users, then just over two years for the next 100 million, and only 18 months for the latest 100 million. This accelerating growth reflects not only the trust placed in Binance but also the broader global shift toward crypto as a mainstream financial asset,” Teng noted.
Teng continued, “This milestone is more than just numbers; it signals a pivotal moment for the entire industry. Crypto is crossing the chasm from early adopters to the early majority, gaining real traction as a legitimate asset class.”
From Speculation to Infrastructure
Although it may appear to be so on the surface, the CLARITY Act doesn’t simply resolve regulatory disputes. Rather, this legislations marks the start of crypto’s formal integration into the U.S. financial system.
Although the act has to receive full Congressional approval, nor has it been signed into law, it has already signaled to the market that regulatory progress is arriving stateside. Better yet, once reconciled with similar legislation from the U.S. Senate, then signed into law as a final bill, this act could serve as an accelerant for institutional adoption.
No longer on the financial fringes, the crypto and blockchain ecosystems are being rapidly integrated into the existing financial infrastructure. This points to a more stable, less speculative future for the space.
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