End of TradFi? How Blockchain Is Reshaping the Rules of the Global Financial Game

When Visa announced the integration of real-time cryptocurrency-to-fiat conversion functionality, allowing users to convert digital assets into fiat currency and deposit directly into a Visa card, the boundaries between traditional finance and blockchain began to dissolve.

According to the latest data, by November 2025, the tokenized U.S. Treasury bond market exceeded $9.11 billion, and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund reached $2.5 billion in size.

Synergistic Drive: The Trio of Technology, Demand, and Regulation

The impact of blockchain on traditional finance has shifted from experimental edge cases to core transformation. This shift is driven by the combined effects of technological evolution, market demand, and regulatory environment.

The global cross-border payments market is projected to reach $250 trillion by 2027, while traditional systems like SWIFT typically require 2 to 5 business days to complete fund transfers. Blockchain technology can reduce this to a matter of seconds, while lowering the average cross-border remittance cost from 6.2% to below 3%.

Institutional investor participation has changed the game. Since 2024, traditional giants like BlackRock have entered the crypto market through ETFs and tokenized assets.

This involvement extends beyond passive investment to infrastructure. Recently, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF saw a single-day net inflow of $561.8 million, the largest since January 14.

Gradual clarification of regulatory frameworks provides institutional support for integration. In 2025, the U.S. SEC approved more crypto ETFs, and the EU’s MiCA framework regulated stablecoin usage.

Pathways of Transformation: Asset, Infrastructure, and Product Reforms

Blockchain’s reshaping of traditional finance unfolds along three clear pathways, each redefining the boundaries and efficiency of financial services.

First is asset digitization and tokenization. The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) is accelerating, with total value reaching $17.131 billion. Blockchain enables traditionally illiquid assets like real estate and art to be divided into digital tokens, increasing liquidity and providing broader access to global investors.

Second is the modernization of payment and settlement infrastructure. By October 2025, monthly adjusted stablecoin trading volume surged to $1.5 trillion, surpassing quarterly consumer volume of Visa and Mastercard.

Traditional payment systems were designed for batch settlement and regional clearing, but blockchain supports programmable settlement and 24/7 global value transfer.

Third is the innovative integration of products and services. Exchanges like Gate have launched TradFi features allowing users to access traditional financial assets through a single account, using USDT as collateral for trading.

This integration not only expands investment channels for crypto users but also attracts traditional financial investors into the crypto ecosystem, pushing platforms toward comprehensive financial service providers.

Practical Implementation: Traditional Financial Giants’ Blockchain Strategies

Traditional financial institutions are not passively accepting change but actively deploying blockchain, internalizing core technologies as competitive advantages.

The most notable is in payments. Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, followed by the acquisition of crypto wallet infrastructure provider Privy.

Privy’s technology currently supports over 75 million wallets, helping developers integrate user wallets directly into products, significantly lowering barriers to crypto adoption.

Banks are also exploring blockchain applications. HSBC processed over $250 billion in FX transactions on blockchain, significantly reducing manual risk management processes.

In trade finance, HSBC and ING execute real-time trade finance transactions via the R3 Corda platform, reducing processing time from 5-10 days to less than 24 hours.

Asset management firms are entering via tokenized funds. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund holds $2.5 billion in assets across eight blockchains and extends to Binance as collateral, indicating institutional capital is deploying traditional assets on blockchain infrastructure without leaving regulated custody environments.

Challenges and Breakthroughs: Key Barriers in the Fusion Process

Despite the clear trend toward integration, challenges remain in combining traditional finance and blockchain, from technical compatibility to regulatory coordination.

Interoperability is a primary concern. Communication barriers between different blockchain networks limit the free flow of assets and data. Gate’s GateChain public chain enables interoperability with traditional financial systems, with cross-chain protocols allowing users to convert traditional assets into digital tokens for trading in crypto environments.

Regulatory inconsistency is another major obstacle. Divergent jurisdictional attitudes toward digital assets complicate cross-border financial services. However, with the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act and the implementation of the EU’s MiCA framework, regulatory clarity in major markets is improving.

The inertia of legacy systems also poses challenges. Many financial institutions still rely on outdated core banking systems, requiring significant investment and time to integrate with blockchain. However, blockchain’s transparency and tamper-proof ledgers make every transaction traceable, revolutionizing AML and fraud detection, potentially reducing false positives by up to 70%.

Gate’s Perspective: Positioning and Innovation in the Fusion Wave

As a leading platform in crypto, Gate actively promotes deep integration of TradFi and CeFi through product innovation, technological integration, and compliance efforts, playing a bridging role.

On the product side, Gate has launched various integrated offerings, such as crypto staking loans and tokenized traditional assets. Users can collateralize BTC to obtain USD stablecoins with interest rates as low as 5%.

Gate also supports tokenized stock trading, allowing users to invest in Apple or Tesla shares via digital assets.

Technologically, GateChain’s interoperability enables conversion of traditional assets like gold or bonds into digital tokens for trading within CeFi. This integration ensures transaction speeds of 1,000 TPS, far exceeding many traditional financial systems.

Gate’s daily trading volume has surpassed $5 billion, attracting many users from TradFi backgrounds. The platform provides educational resources and customer support to help traditional finance users understand crypto risks, along with an intuitive interface for a smooth transition into CeFi.

Summary

By February 2026, when ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced the launch of a new regulated crypto futures contract, this news did not make headlines in crypto media but became a routine business update in traditional finance circles.

Over 130 countries worldwide are researching central bank digital currencies. Once considered “digital fringe experiments,” crypto technologies have now become an integral part of mainstream financial infrastructure.