2026-01-05 01:05:50

Why are banks interested in blockchain? The CEO of Digital Asset recently posed an interesting question.

He pointed out that the often-mentioned "decentralization" in the crypto industry is actually a false proposition. In simple terms, old intermediaries are replaced by new ones—DEXs, lending protocols, which seem decentralized on the surface, are still intermediaries at their core, just wearing different masks.

And what about traditional banks? Don't be fooled by their recent big moves into the space; it's not because they didn't want to participate before, but because early blockchain ecosystems were indifferent or even hostile to them. The fully permissionless, privacy-lacking on-chain world simply cannot meet essential compliance requirements like KYC and AML. If banks go directly on-chain, they risk being summoned by regulators at any moment. So, the core issue isn't willingness but the rigid constraints of the technological model.

The emergence of new privacy protocols like Canton just happens to solve this pain point. They enable banks to enter the blockchain ecosystem while still complying with regulatory frameworks—this is exactly what traditional financial institutions truly desire.

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ShamedApeSeller

· 4h ago

Decentralization is just a joke; it's the same old story with a different flavor. That DEX setup is just for fun.

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GameFiCritic

· 01-06 14:58

De-centralization, in essence, is an upgrade of intermediaries, and this point really hits the mark. But schemes like Canton are quite interesting—balancing compliance and privacy. From a sustainability perspective, this is indeed a breakthrough. Traditional finance enters not because of a moral awakening, but because technology finally meets hard requirements.

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StrawberryIce

· 01-05 17:59

Decentralization is a joke; DEX still needs someone to operate it. No one can escape the middlemen.

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AirdropATM

· 01-05 01:22

Decentralization is essentially just relabeling intermediaries, that hits hard. Canton definitely needs to push hard, otherwise banks will never come in. I was wondering why banks were so cold before; it turns out compliance was the hurdle blocking them. Is DEX also an intermediary? Then what am I investing in... So basically, someone still needs to oversee things; pure permissionless systems are simply not attractive to banks.

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TokenTaxonomist

· 01-05 01:19

actually, let me pull up my spreadsheet here... the "decentralization" narrative? taxonomically incorrect. just rehashing the same intermediary structure with different lipstick.

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LadderToolGuy

· 01-05 01:17

The statement that "decentralization is a false proposition" is truly absurd; essentially, it's just a different flavor of the same old story.

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NoStopLossNut

· 01-05 01:15

Decentralization? That's laughable. To put it plainly, it's just a change of packaging without changing the content. Traditional finance entering the scene was always inevitable, and no one should think they can bypass the regulatory barrier. Protocols like Canton that focus on privacy indeed solve an urgent problem, but the real test is still ahead.

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GweiTooHigh

· 01-05 01:11

Decentralization is a false proposition, I totally agree with that. To put it simply, it's just a different soup but the same medicine.

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