23 July 2025
Not long ago, institutional crypto adoption felt like a distant goal. Today, it’s an active frontier – and the infrastructure is starting to catch up. Custody technology has improved. Liquidity aggregation and API-based exchange access are finally delivering at the level institutions expect. Regulatory requirements are taking clearer shape, and the compliance infrastructure required to meet them is getting better.
All this momentum is real – but the ultimate goal remains elusive. We still haven’t seen that tidal wave of institutional adoption.
Access to digital assets is broader than ever before. According to recent surveys, 85% of asset managers are actively exploring crypto. Institutions are taking digital assets seriously – virtually everyone recognizes they are here to stay – and duly considering them for their investment portfolios.
However, while interest is strong and momentum is building, only 12% of crypto is owned by institutions. This is largely due to structural friction. Traditional asset managers are often bound by fund documentation requirements and compliance agreements that don’t yet allow for direct crypto exposure. And even when access is possible, the leverage available to them is often too expensive or capital-intensive to support scalable strategies.
Without the right infrastructure, institutions will fall behind as the market continues to evolve and grow. It’s not that institutions don’t understand crypto – it’s that crypto hasn’t been built to meet institutional expectations. There is still a lot to be done to unlock widespread adoption.
Still, the playing field is shifting. The infrastructure is maturing, the language is becoming more familiar and the quality of solutions available to institutional players is finally catching up to demand. Institutions want infrastructure that mirrors their traditional partners, and service providers are beginning to deliver. Regulators are beginning to engage constructively. The gap has been closing at an impressive rate.
At VersiFi, we believe this is a critical turning point – and an opportunity to help institutions move from exploration to execution. We’re building solutions that reflect how institutions actually operate and scale. We offer everything required – regulated liquidity access and OTC trading, algorithmic execution, low-latency DMA, portfolio management, risk management and access to lending and custody services – for firms to move into this asset class with full confidence. Our infrastructure is designed with auditability and real-time compliance at its core, built to meet the demands of regulators and risk committees alike. It’s the toolkit institutions need to trade, scale and stay compliant.
All of this is explored in our new report, Cracking the Crypto Code: Key Priorities for Institutional Crypto Adoption. It outlines the progress the industry has made and what’s still needed to fully close the gap between crypto-native innovation and institutional standards.
