nft​

Excellent question. The divide you're describing is at the very heart of the current crypto market evolution. The statement from a Polygon executive likely boils down to two different sets of motivations, incentives, and timelines.

Here’s a breakdown of why Big Finance is pushing into crypto and why Retail might be hesitant or indifferent in 2025.

Why Big Finance (Institutions) Wants Crypto in 2025

For institutions, this isn't about buying meme coins or chasing 100x returns. It's a strategic, infrastructural shift. Polygon, as a leading Ethereum scaling solution, is directly selling to this audience.

1. Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs): This is the #1 use case. Institutions see blockchains (especially efficient, compliant ones like Polygon) as a superior ledger to issue and manage:
· Bonds & Treasuries: BlackRock's BUIDL fund on Ethereum is the prime example.
· Private Equity & Venture Capital Funds: Fractionalized, with easier transfers.
· Real Estate: Enables fractional ownership and reduces settlement friction.
· Commodities. This creates new markets, reduces costs, and unlocks liquidity for traditionally illiquid assets.
2. Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction: Settlement on a blockchain can be near-instant and 24/7, compared to the T+2 (or longer) system in traditional finance. This frees up capital and reduces counterparty risk.
3. New Revenue Streams & Product Offerings: Banks and asset managers can't ignore a multi-trillion dollar asset class. They need to offer:
· Custody services for digital assets.
· ETF products (like the spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs).
· Staking and yield products for their clients.
4. Regulatory Clarity (Finally): By 2025, jurisdictions like the EU (with MiCA), the UK, and even the US (through court cases and gradual SEC/CFTC delineation) will have clearer rules. Institutions cannot operate in gray areas. Clear rules, even if strict, allow them to build with legal certainty.
5. Institutional-Grade Infrastructure Now Exists: The tools Polygon and others are building cater directly to institutions:
· Permissioned Chains/Subnets: Institutions can run a blockchain with known, vetted participants (e.g., other banks) while still connecting to public ecosystems.
· Compliance Tools: Identity verification (via zero-knowledge proofs), on-chain monitoring, and privacy features are maturing.
· Scalability: Low, predictable transaction fees are essential. Polygon's AggLayer and other L2 solutions promise this.

In short for Big Finance: Crypto is becoming "Tech Stack 2.0 for Financial Markets." It's a back-office and product innovation play, not a speculative punt.

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Why Retail Doesn't (Seem to) Want Crypto in 2025

The "retail" sentiment here refers to the average person, not the dedicated crypto enthusiast. Their hesitation stems from the scars of the last cycle and shifting priorities.

1. Post-FTX & 2022 Crash Trauma: The collective memory of catastrophic collapses (LUNA, FTX, Celsius) and the "Crypto Winter" is still fresh. For many, "crypto" became synonymous with "scams and losses." Trust was shattered and rebuilds slowly.
2. The "Get-Rich-Quick" Narrative Has Faded (For Now): The 2017 and 2021 bull runs were driven by retail FOMO on stories of life-changing gains. That euphoria has burned out. Without constant, parabolic price action dominating headlines, retail's attention drifts.
3. Complexity & User Experience: Despite improvements, using self-custody wallets, managing seed phrases, and navigating DeFi is still too complex and risky for the masses. The fear of a simple mistake costing you everything is a massive barrier.
4. Macroeconomic Pressure: In 2025, if global economies are still dealing with high interest rates, inflation, or recessionary fears, the average person's disposable income for speculative investments shrinks. Groceries and mortgages come first.
5. Lack of a "Killer App" for Daily Life: Retail adoption explodes with apps that solve everyday problems. Currently, most crypto applications are either:
· Financial Speculation (trading, NFTs).
· Too niche or technical (DAO governance, supply chain tracking).
· Inferior to Web2 alternatives (social media, gaming). Until a crypto application is clearly better and simpler for something like social media, loyalty points, or digital identity, mass retail will remain passive.
6. The "Invisible" Institutional Use Case: The very thing exciting Big Finance—tokenized Treasuries on a private blockchain subnet—is completely invisible and irrelevant to the average retail user. They won't see or interact with it.

The Key Insight from the Polygon Executive

The executive is highlighting a fundamental market transition: Crypto is pivoting from a retail-driven speculative asset class to an institution-driven financial infrastructure layer.

· 2017-2022: Driven by retail speculation, ICOs, DeFi summer, and meme coins.
· 2025 Onwards: Driven by institutional adoption of blockchain as a utility.

The retail wave will likely return, but it will be different. It will come after institutions have built the robust, regulated infrastructure and when the next cycle's "killer app" (perhaps in gaming or social) emerges on top of that very infrastructure.

In summary: Big Finance is looking at the engine being built. Retail is remembering the wild, often crash-prone ride of the last car. The Polygon executive's point is that in 2025, the people building and buying the engine (institutions) are the ones driving the market forward.
$ETH
$LUNA
$NFT
#Ethereum #LUNC✅ #NFT​ #ETFs #Binance

In 2025, the digital asset landscape underwent a profound transition. After years of hesitation, institutional investors—once cautious observers of the cryptocurrency sector—have now stepped decisively into the market. This shift, driven by improved infrastructure, clearer regulatory pathways, and a stronger focus on real-world financial integration, is redefining how capital flows into crypto.

Aishwary Gupta, Global Head of Payments and Real-World Assets at Polygon Labs, spoke with BeInCrypto to outline the forces behind this transformation. His insights reveal why institutional inflows now dominate the market and how this evolution may shape the future of blockchain finance.

Institutional Capital Now Represents the Majority of Crypto Inflows

According to Gupta, institutions currently contribute an estimated 95 percent of all inflows into the crypto ecosystem. Retail participation—once the primary engine behind speculative market cycles—has diminished to approximately 5–6 percent. This shift indicates a maturing environment where structured finance, regulated products, and long-term strategies take precedence over hype-driven trading.

Major investment firms such as BlackRock, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane have begun integrating digital assets into their portfolios, typically allocating between 1–2 percent and launching ETFs or on-chain tokenized products. These entrants are not motivated by trend-chasing; rather, they are responding to the robustness of today’s blockchain infrastructure.

Gupta explains that the real catalyst has been the development of institutional-grade rails, particularly those enabled by Ethereum-compatible networks. Polygon’s collaborations with JPMorgan for a live DeFi trade under the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ondo’s tokenized treasuries, and AMINA Bank’s regulated staking initiatives demonstrate that public blockchains can now meet regulatory and audit standards while supporting scalable, low-cost transactions.

“Institutions no longer need experimental sandboxes,” Gupta noted. “They can interact directly with well-tested, public networks that satisfy compliance and operational requirements.”

Why Institutions Are Entering: Yield, Diversification, and Efficiency

Gupta identified two main drivers behind the institutional surge.

The first is the hunt for yield and portfolio diversification. Tokenized treasuries, regulated staking products, and yield-bearing stable instruments offer familiar value propositions with the added benefits of digital settlement.

The second is operational efficiency. Blockchain delivers measurable improvements in settlement speed, liquidity sharing, and asset programmability. This is pushing traditional financial institutions and fintech networks to pilot tokenized fund structures, explore on-chain transfers, and streamline asset servicing workflows.

Retail Retreat Raises Concerns—But Gupta Sees a Path Back

While institutions are gaining traction, the departure of many retail investors has raised questions about crypto’s identity. Gupta attributes the retail decline to losses from speculative meme coin cycles and unrealistic expectations during volatile market phases.

However, he does not consider this exit permanent. He believes structured, regulated, and transparent financial products will restore confidence among retail participants over time.

Does Institutional Dominance Threaten Decentralization?

A recurring concern in the blockchain community is whether institutional dominance undermines crypto’s decentralized ethos. Gupta argues that this outcome is unlikely as long as public, open networks remain the foundational infrastructure.

“Decentralization is threatened when networks close themselves off, not when new participants arrive,” he explained. He sees institutional participation not as centralization, but as a merging of infrastructures—where the same chains that host DeFi, NFTs, and gaming can also support ETFs, treasuries, and institutional staking.

Will Compliance Slow Innovation? Gupta Says It May Strengthen It

When asked whether increased compliance could inhibit creativity, Gupta acknowledged the tension but emphasized long-term benefits. The early “move fast and break things” mentality fueled innovation but also produced notable failures and regulatory backlash. Institutional involvement, he argues, encourages developers to embed compliance into innovation from the outset, resulting in more resilient and scalable solutions.

The Road Ahead: A More Stable, Yield-Oriented Crypto Market

Gupta believes the future of crypto will not be defined by Wall Street taking over, but rather by convergence. Institutional-grade capital is slower, more risk-managed, and less emotional. As this capital takes a leading role, market volatility is expected to decline, with financial infrastructure becoming the dominant narrative over speculative trading.

He anticipates rapid growth in real-world asset tokenization, deeper integration of regulatory frameworks, and increased institutional staking activity. Interoperability will also become a critical priority as institutions scale their operations across multiple networks and rollups.

Crypto, he concludes, is evolving from an alternative asset class into a core component of global financial infrastructure.
#etf
#ETH
#NFT​

In 2025, the cryptocurrency industry entered a new phase, characterized by a surge in institutional participation. After years of caution and skepticism, large firms are now allocating meaningful capital to digital assets.
But what changed for institutions to finally turn to an industry they once kept at arm’s length? BeInCrypto spoke with Aishwary Gupta, global head of Payments and Real-World Assets at Polygon Labs, to unpack the drivers behind this transformation. Gupta discusses why institutional inflows now dominate the market and what this shift means.
Institutions Now Dominate Crypto Inflows: Here’s Why
Gupta noted that institutions now account for an estimated 95% of crypto inflows. Meanwhile, retail participation has fallen to roughly 5–6%. This reversal marks a shift from the hype-driven, retail-led cycles of previous years to a market increasingly shaped by structured finance. 
Large asset managers, including BlackRock, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane, have begun allocating around 1–2% of their portfolios to crypto, introducing ETFs and piloting tokenized investment products on-chain.
According to Gupta, the change isn’t in Wall Street’s sentiment but in the infrastructure that now supports institutional activity. He cited Polygon as an example:
“Partnerships with JPMorgan for a live DeFi trade under the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ondo for tokenized treasuries, and AMINA Bank for regulated staking showed that the rails powering DeFi can also power global finance. Scalability and low-cost transactions allowed TradFi to consider public blockchains usable. Institutions don’t have to experiment in sandboxes anymore — they can make transactions on a well-tested, Ethereum-compatible public network that satisfies auditors and regulators.”
Gupta said institutions are entering the crypto space from two primary directions. The search for yield and diversification, and the pursuit of operational efficiency. The first wave focused on dollar-denominated returns through products such as tokenized treasuries and bank-managed staking. This offered a familiar and compliant framework for generating yield.
The second wave, he explained, is driven by the efficiency gains that blockchain can provide. Faster settlement, shared liquidity, and programmable assets have encouraged large financial networks and fintech firms to experiment with tokenized fund structures and on-chain transfers. 
Retail Retreat Raises Questions About Crypto’s Direction as Institutions Take the Lead
The executive also emphasized the reason for the retail exit. He highlighted that retail investors left the market largely due to losses tied to speculative meme coin cycles and unrealistic profit expectations. This erosion of trust, he noted, pushed many smaller investors to the sidelines. However, he does not view this as a permanent or structural departure.
“A lot more structured and regulated products will be able to win their confidence so they can return to the market,” Gupta told BeInCrypto.
Still, the rise of institutional participation raised concerns about potential dilution of crypto’s decentralization ethos. Gupta contends that maturity and decentralization are not mutually exclusive if public, open networks remain the foundation.
According to him, decentralization is threatened only when networks sacrifice openness, not when new participants enter.
“When built on public rails…instead of in walled gardens,  institutional adoption won’t centralize crypto so much as legitimize it…..TradFi isn’t taking over crypto so much as it is coming on-chain — it’s not a takeover and surrender but rather a merging of infrastructures as chains that host DeFi and NFTs also host Treasuries, ETFs, and institutional staking,” he remarked.
When asked whether institutional dominance could slow innovation by prioritizing compliance over experimentation, Gupta acknowledged the tension. Nonetheless, he argued that it may ultimately benefit the sector.
‘The ‘move fast and break things’ mentality produced great creativity, but it also led to huge losses and regulatory hostility.  Yes, institutions move slowly and with a great focus on compliance, and yes, that can put a strain on creativity, but if done right, it doesn’t have to kill innovation. Instead, it can push it further and force developers to see compliance as a way to foster innovation by building it in from the start. Progress may be slower, but it is stronger and more scalable,” the executive commented.
What Comes Next as Institutions Deepen Their Presence in Crypto
Looking ahead, Gupta said the rise of institutional participation should not be viewed as Wall Street “taking over” crypto but rather joining an increasingly multifaceted ecosystem. 
“The market now runs on institutional-grade liquidity that is slower-moving, yield-bearing and more risk-managed. You no longer see the market dominated by retail traders chasing hype and FOMO across centralized exchanges like in 2017. There’s less emotional trading. Volatility will decrease as capital moves from speculation to long-term yield generation. The narrative has changed, with crypto becoming seen more as financial infrastructure than an asset class,” he mentioned
He expects significant expansion in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and a gradual increase in market stability as trading activity becomes more disciplined and less speculative. Stronger regulatory integration, he added, is also likely as traditional financial players continue to develop on-chain strategies.
Gupta anticipates further growth in institutional staking and yield-generating networks as regulated entities explore compliant ways to participate in on-chain yield. At the same time, he believes interoperability will become a central focus, with public-chain tools that enable seamless movement of assets across different rollups gaining importance as institutions scale their activity.
#ETF #ETH #NFT​

Insights From Polygon’s Aishwary Gupta**
The 2025 crypto market is a far cry from the euphoric, retail-driven cycles seen in previous years. Instead of meme coins and speculative rallies, the space is now shaped primarily by institutions—from asset managers to global banks—quietly deploying serious capital into digital assets.
To understand why this shift is happening now—and why retail participation has shrunk to record lows—BeInCrypto spoke to Aishwary Gupta, Global Head of Payments and Real-World Assets at Polygon Labs. His perspective puts this into a broader context: crypto's evolution from experimental frontier to operational layer for global finance.
Institutions Now Account for Almost All New Crypto Inflows
He estimates that institutions represent roughly 95% of the current inflows, leaving retail with only 5-6%, which is the complete opposite of earlier cycles, where retail traders dominated the activity.
Large players like BlackRock, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane have now started to allocate 1-2% of their portfolios to digital assets, launched ETF products to market, and are testing tokenized funds directly on public chains.
But Gupta stresses that institutions haven't "fallen in love" with crypto. What changed is the infrastructure.
Why Institutions Suddenly Trust Public Blockchains
Gupta refers to the performance of Polygon as evidence that traditional finance can operate on open networks now:
A live DeFi trade with JPMorgan under the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Tokenized Treasury Products With Ondo
Regulated staking with AMINA Bank
These are not experiments in private sandboxes; these are production-grade transactions.
"Scalability and low-cost execution proved that public blockchains can meet institutional standards," said Gupta. "They can now transact on familiar, Ethereum-compatible rails that auditors and regulators understand."
They come in mainly through two important entrances:
Yield and Diversification: Tokenized Treasuries, Institutional Staking, and Regulated Yield Products
Operational efficiency: instant settlement, shared liquidity, programmable fund structures, and cross-border transfers.
This creates a flywheel where utility, not speculation, is driving growth.
Why Retail Has Mostly Stepped Back
Gupta is equally clear about why retail investors disappeared:
Years of losses due to unstable meme coins, predatory cycles, and unrealistic profit expectations.
"Trust was eroded," he said. "But retail will return as more structured and regulated products go live."
Put differently, retail did not leave crypto; it left casino crypto. This next wave may be driven by safer, yield-oriented, transparent instruments.
Does Institutional Dominance Threaten Decentralization?
Some have concerns that institutional involvement necessarily centralizes crypto due to the compliance-heavy requirements that limit openness. Gupta claims otherwise:
He argues that decentralization is only at risk when networks segregate themselves into walled gardens—not when new participants join up to public chains.
"When adoption happens on open rails, institutional activity doesn't centralize crypto. It legitimizes it," he said. "We're not seeing a takeover. We're seeing infrastructures merging."
TradFi isn't a replacement for crypto; it's migrating on-chain.
Will Compliance Slow Innovation? Gupta Sees the Opposite
Gupta acknowledges that an industry that once prized "move fast and break things" has produced enormous creativity—and enormous damage.
While institutions mean slower processes and strict compliance, he argues, this need not be a barrier:
"Compliance, if integrated early, becomes a catalyst for stronger and more scalable innovation. Progress may be slower, but it becomes durable."
The industry is shifting from improvisation to engineering.
What Comes Next: The Future of a Professionalised Crypto Market
Gupta thinks the next wave of crypto will be fundamentally different:
1. Institutional-grade liquidity is the market baseline
No more cycles dominated by emotional retail traders chasing hype.
2. Volatility decreases as long-term capital replaces speculative capital
Liquidity becomes slower, yield-bearing, and risk-managed.
3. RWA tokenization greatly speeds up
Funds, treasuries, bonds, and settlement networks operating all on-chain.
4. More regulatory integration
Not as a burden, but as a necessary layer for crypto finance at a global scale.
5. Interoperability becomes key
Institutions will require frictionless asset transfers between rollups and chains, further solidifying the need for a unified public infrastructure.
6. Institutional Staking Becomes Major Revenue Stream
Regulated entities will look for compliant ways to earn on-chain yield.
Crypto, Gupta contends, is no longer just an asset class; it is becoming financial infrastructure. Hashtags #ETF #ETH #NFT​ $ETH

In November, the sales volume of NFTs reached the lowest monthly indicator, and the market capitalization of non-fungible tokens decreased by more than 66% compared to January's maximums. According to CryptoSlam, in November, NFT sales dropped to $320 million. This is almost half of the $629 million recorded in October. As a result, monthly volumes returned to a level not seen since September 2024, when this indicator amounted to $312 million. In December, the decline is likely to continue. At least, the first week of the month was weak — from December 1 to 7, NFT sales volume did not exceed $62 million, which is the lowest weekly indicator in 2025.

The market #NFT hits bottom 2025: What is happening?
The NFT market is experiencing a significant cooling as we end 2025:
• November sales fell to $320 million (down from $629 million in October).
• The market capitalization has dropped 66% from a high of $9.2 billion in January to $3.1 billion.
• The first week of December recorded the weakest weekly sales of the year ($62 million).

When people hear about @Yield Guild Games many still picture a simple gaming collective a large community of players grouped under one umbrella. But when I analyze YGG’s asset acquisition strategy, what becomes clear is that YGG is operating on a much deeper, more strategic level than most observers realize. The guild is not simply scouting games and handing out NFTs. It is building an interconnected portfolio designed to power a long-term ecosystem. Every acquisition, every partnership, and every asset placement fits into a system that prioritizes sustainability, community scalability, and economic resilience.

To understand YGG’s strategy, you have to see assets not as collectibles but as tools tools for participation, tools for empowerment, and tools for unlocking digital labor opportunities across Web3. When I look at the way YGG accumulates and deploys its assets, it resembles a decentralized venture model blended with a community-scale distribution engine. There is a reason YGG was one of the earliest and most aggressive guilds in the GameFi space: it recognized that digital assets would become the foundation of virtual economies long before the rest of the world caught on.

But unlike speculative investors who chase hype cycles, YGG applies discipline. Their asset choices are not random. They’re not simply based on trends or token price movements. YGG evaluates ecosystems from the inside out game design, tokenomics, leveling systems, long-term retention, core gameplay loops, developer credibility, and the economic logic behind asset value. The guild partners with teams that show signs of longevity, not just momentum. This matters because an asset portfolio built for short-term yield is fragile, but a portfolio built around utility, gameplay depth, and community incentives has staying power.

When I analyze YGG’s acquisitions, one theme always stands out: accessibility. YGG doesn’t acquire assets for the sake of holding them; it acquires assets to unlock participation for thousands of players who otherwise could not afford to join high-barrier ecosystems. In many Web3 games, rare or powerful assets are central to progression, earnings, and in-game influence. But those assets often cost more than what many players can justify spending. YGG steps in to bridge that gap acquiring these assets early, distributing them through its community, and turning them into income-generating tools for members.

This is where the strategy becomes so impactful. YGG effectively transforms capital into opportunities. A single #NFT​ or set of assets isn’t just a collectible it becomes a pathway for someone to join a digital economy that might otherwise be closed to them. The guild model democratizes access, and YGG’s acquisition strategy is what fuels that democratization. In this sense, each asset is like a seed that can grow into skill development, community participation, and economic contribution.

Another layer of the strategy is diversification not just across games, but across chains, genres, mechanics, and earning models. YGG saw early on that relying on one game or one ecosystem is dangerous. The gaming industry evolves rapidly, and Web3 amplifies that speed even further. Some projects shine briefly and fade, while others grow slowly and endure. By spreading its acquisitions across a wide portfolio, YGG reduces risk while increasing touchpoints across the entire gaming landscape.

But diversification is not just a defensive measure it’s an offensive one. It positions YGG as a hub for cross-game, cross-chain participation. The guild doesn’t want players to be stuck in one ecosystem. It wants them to move freely across many, gaining skills, building identities, and navigating opportunities that fit their interests. Every new asset category widens the scope of what members can do, which strengthens the guild’s network effect. The more games YGG integrates with, the more valuable membership becomes.

A lot of people underestimate how much research goes into these acquisition decisions. YGG studies player behavior, market sentiment, gaming culture, and evolving tokenomics models. It predicts how in-game assets might behave based on gameplay loops, progression systems, reward structures, and active user data. It watches how communities form around games and how developers respond to feedback. It evaluates whether assets have real utility, whether the game world has room for expansion, and whether the economic model encourages long-term engagement instead of short-term extraction. All of this informs acquisition timing and scale.

One aspect I find especially interesting is how YGG aligns its incentives with those of the games it invests in. By becoming one of the earliest ecosystem participants, YGG essentially supports the game’s growth from day one. Developers benefit from the guild’s onboarding power, while YGG benefits from early asset access and a strong community foundation. This creates a mutually reinforcing cycle: the game grows, the guild grows, and the player base grows. YGG’s portfolio becomes more than just a collection of digital items it becomes a network of interconnected ecosystems shaped by shared growth incentives.

Another strength of YGG’s strategy is that it views its assets not just as economic tools but as cultural ones. Assets reflect identity, status, and belonging inside Web3 communities. A guild member who uses a YGG-acquired item builds not just wealth but a sense of alignment with the guild’s mission. This creates cohesion, pride, and long-term loyalty. Assets become anchors for community-building. They tell a story about how the guild evolved, which games it supported early, and how its community influenced the growth of the Web3 gaming movement.

YGG also understands timing better than most. Early acquisition means stronger yield potential, better asset availability, and a higher chance of influencing the ecosystem. But “early” doesn’t mean blindly buying into every new game. It means entering at the right moment when the game has proven its foundations but before it becomes overcrowded. YGG’s ability to identify these windows is part of what separates it from traditional NFT investors.

And beyond the acquisition itself, the guild focuses on deployment efficiency. Assets sitting idle don’t generate value; assets actively used by players do. YGG’s structure ensures that acquired assets reach the hands of community members quickly and effectively. This is where its scholarship model, community tools, and onboarding pipelines come into play. It’s a full-cycle system from buying assets to distributing them to optimizing their use in real ecosystems.

When I step back and analyze the entire strategy, it becomes clear that YGG is not simply collecting assets it is architecting an economy. Every acquisition strengthens the guild’s influence across the Web3 gaming landscape. Every deployment empowers players. Every partnership deepens network value. And every asset becomes a building block of the future digital workforce.

This is why YGG’s asset acquisition strategy matters so much. It’s not about speculation it’s about infrastructure. It’s about shaping how thousands of people will enter, navigate, and succeed within the #Metaverse economy. And in many ways, YGG has already demonstrated that digital assets, when managed with purpose and strategy, can unlock opportunities far beyond what traditional gaming ever allowed.

@Yield Guild Games
#YGGPlay
$YGG