Cobo: The Certainty Opportunities for Web3 Institutions in an Uncertain World

Written by: Lily Z.King

In April, Money20/20 Aisa 2025, a world-renowned fintech event, was held in Bangkok. Lily Z.King, COO of Cobo, was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion moderated by Nicole Nguyen, founder of APAC DAO, to discuss the trends, opportunities and challenges of digital asset development with Pucktada Treeratpituk, Head of Payment Systems and Fintech at the Bank of Thailand, and Jane Pukasemvarangkoon, Director of Strategic Accounts for Asia Pacific at Ripple.

We have organized Lily's key points in this discussion to share with Cobo's users and readers.

From DeFi to RWA: Structural Upgrade of On-Chain Assets

In the past few years, the blockchain world has experienced the ICO wave and the prosperity of DeFi, with these innovations primarily driven by the crypto-native community. However, as on-chain incentives gradually weaken and DeFi yields normalize, the appeal of purely on-chain assets begins to decline. At this point, real-world assets (RWA) have emerged at the right time, providing users with new investment opportunities.

RWA brings stable returns from traditional financial markets on-chain, such as the 4-5% yield of U.S. Treasury bonds, while leveraging blockchain technology for instant settlement, global access, and complete transparency. BlackRock's BUIDL fund is one of the best examples, rapidly reaching $1.4 billion in just one year. This marks the beginning of institutional investors recognizing and actively participating in on-chain asset investments.

More importantly, the wave of RWA has just begun. In the future, artworks, intellectual property, farmland, green energy projects, startup equity, and even personal income rights will gradually be brought on-chain. This is not only an increase in asset classes but also a structural upgrade of on-chain assets.

At the same time, the blockchain-native community representing pioneering innovation will certainly rise again, although this rise may only occur in niche fields and among specific audiences, rather than entering the mass market.

In the context of global trade uncertainty, stablecoins have become a mainstream payment solution.

Currently, the global trade situation is complex, trade frictions are escalating, and the friction costs of cross-border capital flows have significantly increased. Against this backdrop, stablecoins and naturally borderless assets like Bitcoin on the blockchain are beginning to play a more important role.

These assets are gradually becoming the mainstream channel for global capital flow due to their characteristics of instant settlement, borderless restrictions, and 24/7 operation. They are not affected by geopolitical factors and provide a truly neutral payment channel, effectively helping institutions and individuals reduce the risks and costs brought by the uncertainties of global trade.

The essence of Web3 development: the integration of technological innovation and Meme culture communities.

Web3 is not just a technological innovation; it is also a profound social and cultural phenomenon. The rise of Meme coins is a vivid embodiment of this trend. Rather than simply viewing Meme coins as speculative assets, they should be seen as the 'first lesson' for the younger generation of users entering the blockchain world. Meme coins, as a vehicle for trendy culture, help new users quickly familiarize themselves with the operations of decentralized exchanges (DEX), liquidity pools, and self-custody wallets.

This combination of culture and technology not only promotes the popularity of digital assets but also introduces a large number of new generation users to the industry, laying the foundation for the sustainable development of digital assets.

The biggest challenge in the popularization of digital assets: the security and usability of wallets.

In traditional financial systems, bank accounts serve merely as endpoints for asset storage and transfer, whereas in the Web3 world, wallets are the core entry point for users to engage in all on-chain activities. This endows wallets with significant functionality, but also introduces complexities and security risks in their usage.

In order to truly achieve the widespread adoption of digital assets, wallet infrastructure must be continuously iterated and optimized. The technological innovations emerging in the industry, such as MPC wallets, account abstraction, smart contract wallets, and zero-knowledge proofs, are effectively lowering the barriers for user entry. This is also the direction being promoted in the Cobo product portfolio.

In addition, the incorporation of AI Agent technology will significantly enhance the security of the wallet and build a more robust asset protection system.

Diverse Co-construction and Ecological Win-win: The Future Path of Digital Assets

The future of digital assets will not be dominated by a single asset, a single market, or a single type of participant, but will require the joint participation of the entire ecosystem. We need stable assets with reserve properties like Bitcoin, as well as assets with creativity and cultural attributes like Meme coins.

In addition, the structured regulation of mature markets and the large-scale entry of institutional investors can bring stable funding and professional management, while emerging markets and individual users provide innovative vitality and diversified demand for the ecosystem.

"The future of digital assets is a co-creation and win-win situation for the entire ecosystem." This is not just a trend, but an inevitability in the development of the industry.