Stable Interest in Institutional Crypto Adoption Despite Stablecoin Boom
The interest in operational crypto adoption by institutions remained unchanged between the first and second half of 2025, despite the significant growth in the use of stablecoins. A sentiment poll conducted globally revealed that just over 40% of insiders within the financial services (FS) industry have either engaged in or have plans to integrate crypto operations within their core business functions. This data was gathered and presented by GlobalData, a leading data analytics and consulting company.
Usage-Driven Growth in 2025
The results of the survey suggest that the noticeable growth in stablecoin usage in 2025 was not the result of the deeper integration of these digital assets into the core systems of regulated financial institutions. Rather, it was driven by a significant increase in their usage, particularly in certain markets.
Blandina Szalay, a Banking & Payments Analyst at GlobalData, noted that positioning would be crucial for any financial institution looking to become operationally involved in the crypto space. She said, “On one side, long-awaited regulatory advancements resulted in significant noise around financial institutions’ crypto adoption across some advanced economies last year, fueled by hopes that institutional involvement will achieve the usage scale that new decentralized financial services have not been able to reach since their invention.”
Understanding The Crypto Space
It’s important to note that increased institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in usage. Cryptocurrencies were originally designed to operate without supervision, providing a borderless and decentralized form of money that would enable users to avoid intermediaries and remain anonymous. However, as these digital assets seek wider acceptance, they are increasingly coming under national regulatory controls and AML/KYC checks, which can potentially dilute their original value proposition.
Necessity-Driven Adoption in Certain Markets
According to Szalay, crypto adoption in certain markets has been driven by necessity, filling gaps left by domestic monetary systems rather than emerging as a result of institutional endorsement. For instance, Ukraine and Nigeria ranked highest in the crypto transactional use index globally in 2025, achieving the highest GDP-adjusted stablecoin flows using the unregulated USDT. This demonstrates the strong need for the characteristics provided by these digital assets, characteristics that traditional financial institutions often fail to provide.
Institutional Involvement Crucial for US Adoption
In the US, there was a noticeable increase in organisational crypto adoption plans between H1 and H2 in GlobalData’s sentiment poll, rising from 33% to 42%. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, responded to this trend by launching the USAT coin, designed specifically to comply with the US crypto regulatory landscape.
Szalay concluded, “To enter the crypto space in 2026, localized or regional operators can adapt crypto product and service integrations to local needs and regulations, based on their market-specific knowledge. Bigger global financial institutions will have a harder time strategically navigating this landscape as long as regulation, market needs, and consumer sentiment remain vastly different across geographies.”
For more detailed insights and analysis, check out the full report here.
