Coindesk Opinion: Can the value of Crypto Assets survive amidst the wave of regulation?

Question

> This article discusses how to safeguard the core values of the industry amidst regulatory reforms and what innovative opportunities will be nurtured under the new regulatory framework.  **Written by: Ivo Entchev****Compiled by: Portal Labs**  People often say that cryptocurrency is not only a technological revolution but also a spiritual belief. For this reason, when the regulatory system undergoes comprehensive reform, it is not surprising that two schools of thought emerge in this field: on one hand, there is a profound introspection of the core values of cryptocurrency (often carrying an anti-establishment gene), and on the other hand, there is a tangible expectation for the potential new application scenarios.  ![](https://img.gateio.im/social/moments-83815dac86c8a3983b75342ca9e56ba1)  With the support of CoinDesk, I interviewed members of the expert panel who will speak at the grassroots regulatory forum of the "Consensus 2025" conference—these seasoned professionals deeply engaged in the cryptocurrency field and also advocates for reasonable regulation. We discussed how to safeguard the core values of the industry during regulatory reforms and what innovative opportunities may emerge under the new regulatory framework.  The following is a transcript of expert opinions.  ## Which core values of cryptocurrency are most important to you? How can they be ensured to be respected in regulatory reform?  ### Kayvan  Personal freedom and autonomy are core values in the cryptocurrency space. Privacy protection and decentralization are crucial because they are fundamentally the means to achieve this autonomy—without these mechanisms, surveillance systems and centralized control nodes will gradually undermine individual sovereignty.  To ensure that these values are respected in regulatory reforms, we need to reconstruct the discussion framework: focusing on demonstrating that new technologies can not only achieve the fundamental goals of existing laws "in different ways" but also "in better ways." For example, the original intention behind many financial regulatory rules is to prevent the abuse of power by asset custodians, but once humans gain this control, the risk of greed and corruption becomes as difficult to eradicate as a genetic imprint, and similar problems are bound to recur.  Implementing high-intensity regulation on intermediary institutions is certainly a feasible path, but fundamentally solving the problem requires completely eliminating the role of "human intermediaries" through technology. An analogy: controlling alcohol sales strictly and increasing road checks to curb drunk driving are merely temporary band-aids addressing surface symptoms; the application of autonomous driving technology is the true scalpel that can eradicate the root of the drunk driving ailment.  The practical application of new technologies inevitably comes with growing pains, and its risk characteristics will differ significantly from traditional human intermediary models. However, as long as we continue to discuss around a core proposition—"how to use technological innovation to provide better solutions for existing legal governance goals," the core value of the crypto world can be preserved in the evolution of regulation.  ### Connor  Blockchain technology can provide users with unprecedented transparency, reliability, and security—provided that the policy framework promotes its prosperous development through incentives for decentralization.  Under reasonable regulation, blockchain projects will continue to advance the process of decentralization, allowing users to truly take control of their financial assets and digital properties, thereby reducing dependence on overreaching institutions. Beyond financial applications, decentralized blockchain networks will serve as underlying infrastructure to support diverse fields:  * Data sovereignty social platform: Users fully own and control the flow of their personal data.* Community Governance Platform: Competing with tech giants through decentralized governance mechanisms* Anti-AI Forgery Protocol: Build a digital identity protection system to resist AI deep forgery attacks.  We believe that "control" is the most effective entry point for defining decentralization from a legal perspective. The "control test" can significantly reduce the information asymmetry issues caused by the concentration of token control, thereby helping projects seek regulatory exemptions or downgrades under the securities law framework.  ### Lewis  When we talk about core values, I always focus on the values of developers and users who are attracted to the crypto world, rather than the attributes of the technology itself. In my observation, this group is indeed called by the ideals of personal sovereignty and decentralization, but their spiritual totem is far more than that.  Over the past decade, what has truly driven me forward is the deep collaboration with this diverse and innovative community—they are building the "value internet" with almost obsessive passion, determined to make the world more closely connected. We must recognize clearly that the essence of the crypto ecosystem is a tool system that grows from the bottom up, with each line of code embodying the time, wisdom, and creativity of countless individuals, rather than being a top-down plan from tech giants. This grassroots nature is the most touching footnote of the spirit of crypto.  ### Michelle  Decentralization is the core value I cherish the most, as only by distributing power, control, and decision-making among network nodes rather than centralized entities can we truly achieve autonomy over digital assets and free trading. For aspects that still have centralized control, it is necessary to tailor legal and regulatory protective mechanisms to the unique complexities of blockchain systems.  The key to ensuring that decentralized principles are respected lies in legislators and regulators deeply understanding the underlying technological architecture—only then can they achieve the dual objectives when formulating rules: protecting consumers from the risks of financial loss and asset devaluation, while effectively preventing financial crimes like money laundering from eroding the ecosystem.  ### David  As a corporate lawyer with over twenty years of experience, I have always been a staunch believer in the free market. The legal recognition of transferable property rights, the entrepreneur's freedom to experiment, and the "principle of freedom of contract" (that mentally sound adults have the right to exchange goods and services according to their will) — these foundational principles of U.S. corporate law (which are also the legislative foundation of other free democratic regimes) are essentially at the core of the spirit of cryptocurrency.  Although encryption technology is innovative, the paradigm of "innovation must be balanced with reasonable regulation" has historical precedents. When commercial airplanes first appeared, we established pilot certification and safety standards based on safety considerations; today, the aviation industry thrives within a symbiotic regulatory framework. Similarly, regulators can maintain an open attitude towards new software business models while formulating targeted protective mechanisms to balance the prevention of financial crises and risks such as terrorist financing.  ## Is regulatory reform opening up valuable new business models / products?  ### Kayvan  A reasonable regulatory framework has profound significance for business models that rely on community participation and network effects. The current technological development has significantly lowered the barriers for individuals and small teams to create and distribute content, enabling them to compete on the same stage as centralized giants. Effective regulation can further empower individuals through dual pathways:  * Democratization of Capital Access: Opening direct channels for compliant entities to obtain capital allocation.* Ecological participation democratization: Promoting mainstream groups to participate in ecological construction and share the network effect dividends of their community.### ### Connor  There is currently no conclusion to this issue! As legislation such as the "Market Structure Act" and the "Stablecoin Act" gradually outlines the regulatory framework, we are seeing a significant increase in mainstream institutions' interest in blockchain technology. However, before these laws are officially implemented, many highly promising blockchain projects will still face scalability challenges.  I am optimistic about new projects in the following areas:  * Decentralized Artificial Intelligence: Building a censorship-resistant AI training and inference network* Digital Identity Protocol: Creating a user-managed on-chain identity system* Social Media 3.0: Achieving a Content Ecosystem for Data Sovereignty Return  At the same time, we look forward to new structures like DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) obtaining legal status certification - the recently launched "Decentralized Nonprofit Association Act" (DUNA) in Wyoming has provided an important template for the experimentation and evolution of such organizations. Only a clear regulatory sandbox can unleash the full potential of organizational form innovation.  ### Lewis  The door to innovation never closes! Ideally, regulation should be like a spring breeze, nurturing and gentle—able to promote innovation in a balanced and sustainable way, while also responding sensitively to the new business models truly adopted by the community.  The perfect regulatory paradigm in my heart is akin to the evolution of automotive civilization: when innovators in the private sector created the "horse-less carriage," these mechanical monsters, which initially stumbled along muddy horse paths, compelled the government to start paving hard roads and marking traffic lines. Indeed, rules constrain driving behavior to some extent, yet they allow vehicles to speed along more safely. True technological breakthroughs have always come from the private sector: it is the car manufacturers that continuously develop new engines and models, rather than the government stipulating what kind of rubber should be used for tires.  Any regulatory measures that attempt to artificially intervene in the balance, forcefully support specific technological routes—regardless of good intentions—will ultimately backfire and distort the market. The mission of innovators is to continuously create, while the role of regulators should be to guard and adapt, rather than to overstep their bounds.  ### Michelle  Over the past decade, I have been deeply involved in the cryptocurrency industry, with my work consistently focusing on high-regulation areas such as financial integrity and consumer protection. I have witnessed how new business models like stablecoins grew wildly during periods of regulatory absence; I have also seen how prudent regulation, through clear rule boundaries, has driven innovative products into the mainstream, fostering confidence among developers and trust among users. Compared to ten years ago, the current emphasis on compliance in crypto projects is incomparable.  This transformation is creating historic opportunities for regulatory technology (RegTech) - by building automated compliance tools and processes, reconstructing financial infrastructure. At Change Agents, our daily mission is: to optimize processes and reduce costs through an AI-driven secure automation platform. In contrast, traditional financial institutions have core systems that were largely built decades ago, which fundamentally did not consider compatibility with modern technology interfaces, resulting in:  * Data Silos: Information is fragmented and stored in heterogeneous systems* Regulatory fragmentation: Differences in compliance standards across jurisdictions exacerbate operational complexity.  The cryptocurrency platform inherently possesses compliance genes:  * Transparent Ledger: Blockchain technology ensures traceable transaction records* Automated Risk Control: Smart contracts enable real-time compliance verification* Tamper-proof audit: On-chain data is permanently recorded and irreversible.* API-first architecture: Seamless integration with regulatory technology products* Data direct processing: Automatically generate regulatory reports directly from the transaction data layer to avoid manual aggregation errors.  These technical characteristics give crypto enterprises a compliance advantage over traditional finance: while providing regulators with more accurate information, they significantly reduce compliance costs.  ### David  The world of cryptocurrency is filled with multiple revolutionary narratives: Bitcoin has existed for 16 years as a censorship-resistant store of value, and in today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, it is almost an "antique"; but what excites me even more is the wave of stablecoins and the tokenization of real assets. The disruptive potential of the deep coupling between capital flow and a Turing-complete globally programmable ledger has yet to be fully recognized.  Currency is the lifeblood of commercial civilization, and crypto technology is redefining its circulatory system—whether it’s near-zero friction instant payments or enabling the 1.7 billion unbanked people globally to access a digital dollar equivalent for the first time, these are merely the prologue to change. Currently, while stablecoins have begun to take shape, the forthcoming U.S. regulatory framework is set to trigger their large-scale application. The key lies in constructing the "golden triangle" regulatory principles:  * Minimizing liquidity risk: Building a solid foundation of trust through transparent reserves and stress testing.* Illegal fund flow blocking: A technical solution balancing privacy protection and anti-money laundering monitoring.* Cross-chain interoperability: Breaking the island effect, building a unified liquidity pool  Only in this way can stablecoins truly become the financial building blocks of the digital economy.