This Week in Web3: Crypto Excitement Now, Real-World Utility Later?

As the price of bitcoin surges on promises of a crypto-friendly White House, a juxtaposition is emerging in the digital asset space: While speculation soars, the industry’s promised revolution in payments remains largely unrealized.

This disconnect points to a larger truth: While market excitement and institutional adoption are crucial milestones, they don’t automatically translate into practical utility.

The price of bitcoin hit a brief record high of above $93,000 on Wednesday (Nov. 13), driven by continued enthusiasm for the advent of clearer regulation and a pro-business, pro-technology mindset from incoming U.S. lawmakers.

President-elect Trump’s pledge to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” has sent markets into overdrive, building on momentum from January’s spot-bitcoin ETF launches. While Trump at one time had called cryptocurrencies a scam, he changed his tune during his third bid for the White House, and the price of bitcoin had already climbed to a record $80,000 in the days following his election.

But beneath the price action, traditional financial institutions are quietly laying the groundwork for blockchain’s practical future.

Read more: This Week in Web3: Crypto Policies and American Innovation

Big Banks’ Blockchain Moves

The blockchain industry appears to be following a familiar technology adoption pattern: speculation and excitement come first, followed by infrastructure building, and finally, practical utility. We’re currently in the infrastructure phase, with major financial institutions creating the frameworks and systems necessary for broader adoption.

“With crypto-backed policymakers now pushing a pro-business, pro-innovation agenda, forward-thinking financial institutions (FIs), already facing a competitive ecosystem of FinTech and digital-native challengers, are reassessing the idea of blockchain as an opportunity to innovate and remain competitive,” PYMNTS wrote this week.

Already as of last Thursday (Nov. 7), UBS announced it had created and piloted UBS Digital Cash, a blockchain-based payment solution, while a day earlier J.P. Morgan announced an enhancement to its own blockchain platform, recently rebranded from Onyx to Kinexys.

J.P. Morgan also indicated that the bank is exploring the use of blockchain technology to enhance privacy, identity and composability within financial ecosystems.

Mastercard, too, is making significant strides. The payment giant’s Crypto Credential initiative aims to simplify the complex process of transferring value across public blockchain networks. As Raj Dhamodharan, EVP Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard explained, “Blockchain technology, and public blockchains in particular, are opening up a number of new use cases, one of which is to transfer value — such as remittances — from one country to another.”

Overcoming Persistent Challenges

Creating a trusted, seamless framework for verified blockchain interactions is fundamental to enabling smoother, more secure transactions.

However, hurdles remain.

J.P. Morgan’s own analysis highlights how immature on-chain cryptographic privacy solutions and lack of consensus on implementing privacy-preserving digital identity continue to create friction in tokenized asset interactions. While these challenges haven’t completely stalled progress — as evidenced by $2-3 billion raised through on-chain funds and approximately $200 billion in stablecoins, protocol treasuries, and public chain lending protocols — they represent barriers to broader adoption.

And looking at crypto payments earlier this year, PYMNTS noted that in spite of the digital currency’s financial influence and the wealth of its investors, one question still remains: Can cryptocurrency evolve beyond its current role as an investment vehicle to become a viable payment mechanism, especially as traditional digital payments continue to advance?

Still, the industry is seeing progress in specific regions and use cases.

In Southeast Asia, payments protocol Aeon says it has launched crypto payments on the BNB chain. The company announced Monday (Nov. 11) that it has brought a streamlined QR code payment system to BNB with Terminus to expand crypto payment accessibility in the region.

Meanwhile, after launching in the United Kingdom, Revolut is aggressively expanding its Revolut X exchange, designed for professional crypto traders, across 30 new European Economic Area (EEA) countries, according to a Wednesday (Nov. 13) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

The next two years could prove decisive. With potential regulatory clarity and institutional support on the horizon, the industry might finally bridge the gap between market enthusiasm and practical utility. The key will be whether these developments can translate into solutions that offer compelling advantages over existing payment systems.