Major exchanges such as Coinbase, OKX, and Binance, along with investment firms like a16z and Fidelity, pursued global licenses and policy advocacy, building large compliance teams and updating products to meet evolving standards. Coinbase, one of the earliest compliant institutions in the United States, earned the BitLicense in 2014 and later secured money transfer licenses across 46 states, enabling operation in all 50 states. OKX established a benchmark with a global licensing network, obtained a MiCA license to operate in Europe, and maintains a compliance workforce exceeding 600, with licenses across roughly 47 states and regions. Binance, after addressing prior issues, accelerated its licensing in 2025 and now holds licenses in 30 countries, including the Abu Dhabi ADGM FSRA license.
In 2025, a16z invested tens of millions to advance crypto compliance and participated in revisions to the GENIUS Act and the Digital Asset Markets Clarity Act, advocating for “protecting innovation” provisions and exemptions for decentralized protocols. Fidelity and BlackRock aligned with compliance progress by issuing Bitcoin spot ETFs, managing crypto asset trusts, and engaging with regulators such as the SEC and CFTC to push for clear, workable frameworks. These coordinated efforts helped move Bitcoin from a regulatory vacuum in 2009 to a globally collaborative, compliant network by 2025, reducing the gray-area stigma and unlocking institutional funding and liquidity. Enterprise-level crypto investments surpassed $120 billion in the first three quarters of 2025 (about 450% higher than 2024), and dozens of crypto ETFs were approved in 2025, with US ETF assets under management exceeding $140 billion, led by BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF at about $70 billion.
Retail and corporate players are exploring cross-border settlements using stablecoins, with Walmart and Amazon aiming to cut settlement costs by an estimated 60%. By the end of September 2025, 36 institutions had submitted license applications, and by November 2025, 57 institutions had obtained MiCA licenses, enabling full-chain supervision from issuance to custody. Aave, a decentralized lending protocol, passed the Central Bank of Ireland review in November, becoming the first DeFi project to receive a MiCA license. The regulatory framework is moving from fragmentation to unification, with DeFi and NFTs increasingly included, and by year-end 2025 compliance is set to act as a passport to attract trillions of dollars in investment, driving the market toward a 10 trillion scale.
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