For years, institutional interest in crypto was mostly theoretical. Banks, payment companies, and financial institutions tracked the space, met with builders, and studied use cases without committing capital or resources. That posture shifted in 2025.
In an nterview with TheStreet Roundtable discussion, John Wingate, founder and CEO of BankSocial, said the turning point was not market cycles or retail speculation, but regulation.
Early conversations in 2022, he said, were largely exploratory. “That was more about a high level cursory look at what’s coming,” Wingate said.
Related: XRP activity surges as U.S. state proposes adding to reserve
By mid to late 2025, those conversations became operational. Wingate pointed to the progression of stablecoin legislation, including the GENIUS Act and subsequent clarity bills, as the catalyst.
Once a framework began to take shape, institutions concluded they could no longer sit on the sidelines.
That shift also coincided with economic pressure inside traditional finance. As interest margins and interchange fees tightened, institutions began searching for ways to reduce costs while staying competitive.
What institutions are looking for in crypto
Rather than focusing on meme coins or speculative trading, Wingate said institutions are interested in real products with clear revenue paths. Stablecoins and tokenization brought early visibility, but payments infrastructure is now taking center stage.
“Merchant services are one of the more exciting places,” Wingate said. He described growing interest in omni channel commerce, spanning e commerce, in store point of sale, and QR or tap based payments.
Much of the infrastructure already exists. The challenge is integrating crypto native payment standards into systems banks already use.
“If a token can connect into a DEX and convert into a common interchange value, you can start doing really amazing things,” he said.
• US court's major blow to Elon Musk after he accuses OpenAI
That flexibility allows merchants to accept a wide range of assets without changing their workflows.
Institutions are also exploring agent driven payments, where software handles transactions automatically.