Institutions cannot expose their trading strategies or customer data on public blockchains. They view privacy not as a feature but as a 'non-negotiable' prerequisite. Until scalable, compliant privacy technologies are widely available, deep institutional engagement with DeFi will remain limited.

Contrary to belief, the crypto industry's primary need is not deregulation but clear, predictable rules. The ambiguous "regulation through enforcement" approach, where rules are defined via prosecution, creates uncertainty that drives innovation and capital offshore.

While the total crypto market cap has grown, a massive proliferation of new tokens has diluted the market. This hyper-inflation of assets has caused the average individual token's price to decline by approximately 80% since the 2021 peak, a reality obscured by headline figures.

For blockchain to be adopted by mainstream institutions, the "censorship-resistant" ethos of early crypto must evolve. Circle's ARK blockchain uses a known set of validators composed of major financial firms. This ensures high standards for compliance, security, and reliability that anonymous networks cannot provide.

Crypto was unique for allowing retail investors access before Wall Street. Now, the market is dominated by venture capitalists who launch tokens at inflated valuations with long unlocking schedules, effectively using retail buyers as exit liquidity.

The industry's failure to build trust isn't due to a few bad actors. It's a systemic issue rooted in the absence of punitive consequences for misrepresenting data, such as overstating revenue. Unlike public markets where this is criminal, crypto's reliance on self-policing has proven ineffective.

While issues like token proliferation and weak value accrual are problematic, the fundamental reason investors have lost trust is the absence of standardized disclosures and regular reporting. Investors are effectively "flying blind" due to missing, incomplete, or ad-hoc data, which is the root cause of poor market structure.

Instead of replicating the costly and often unengaging investor relations (IR) practices of public markets, crypto projects should leverage their native on-chain transparency. This data-rich environment enables a more proactive, compelling, and efficient way to communicate with investors that can surpass traditional models.

Gurley suggests that conducting IPOs "on-chain" via tokenization could create a fairer market. This method, already used in crypto, allows for true price discovery by automatically matching supply and demand, eliminating the manual price-setting that benefits Wall Street insiders.