Man breaks two puzzles with word Crisis. Avoid or end economic political crisis. Recovery, ... More overcoming consequences. New business and industry opportunities. Stabilization financial system The 2008 financial meltdown led Satoshi Nakamoto to imagine the radical concept of decentralized digital money with the Bitcoin whitepaper. Similarly, the global market volatility in 2025 can help to accelerate the new digital economy based on transparency and utility. Albert Einstein said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” The current global economic crisis shows no sign of abating, with economic slowdown, job losses, and recession forecast by leaders in governments and financial services. This presents itself as a new opportunity for the digital asset industry to further shed its image as a speculative crypto circus and better establish itself as a more credible, viable, and reliable alternative to many areas of the legacy financial system in payments (stablecoins), securities, commodities, and derivatives (tokenization), and investment alternatives (bitcoin, ETHER, and Web3 projects). The digital assets industry must focus on two areas make further great strides in the new economy—proportional regulation and solid tokenomics. Industry leaders must work in close coordination with government agencies, and Web3 financers and project heads must adopt models for tokenomics with great utility to the point of consumption. Proportional Regulation Is A Trust-Building Exercise After the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, the IMF noted, “the financial crisis has exposed weaknesses in the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks.” MORE FOR YOU Google’s Update Decision—Bad News For 50% Of Android Users ‘NYT Mini’ Clues And Answers For Thursday, May 1 Kamala Harris Blasts Trump’s ‘Narrow, Self-Serving Vision Of America’ In First Big Speech Since Leaving Office Regulation has been seen as a critical success factor for legacy finance to maintain market stability and adequate liquidity by implementing rigorous, if not, often somewhat burdensome legislation. But regulations that apply to traditional markets are unsuitable for digital native assets like crypto and digital assets. During the Biden administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a “regulation by enforcement” policy toward crypto, restricting innovation and market growth. The SEC’s SAB 121 and Operation ChokePoint 2.0 set out to regulate crypto and digital assets through the lens of traditional financial regulations. The pro-crypto Trump administration has adopted a regulatory-friendly approach toward the industry. Soon after Trump came to power, the SEC published SAB 122 to rescind the previous SAB 121. With SAB 121, financial institutions like banks had to list crypto assets held on behalf of customers as liabilities on their balance sheets. SAB 122 enables companies to assess whether safeguarding crypto assets is a liability and measure it with established accounting standards like FASB ASC 450-20 and IAS 37. The FDIC and OCC have now approved banks’ crypto custody services, which will lead to enhanced trust and an impetus for traditional financial institutions like banks to enter crypto. Moreover, the previous (acting) SEC Chairman, Mark Uyeda’s Crypto Task Force, has followed a collaborative approach by involving private enterprises in policy formulation by establishing the Crypto Task Force, chaired by Commissioner Hester Peirce. The new SEC Chairman, Paul Atkins, has officially begun his tenure as SEC Chairman on April 21, industry is expecting a new era of leaner and streamlined policy, regulation, and enforcement. Atkins has demonstrated his commitment to transform the crypto industry’s regulatory environment in his opening statement at the Nomination Hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, stating, “Ambiguous and non-existent regulations for digital assets [have created] uncertainty in the market and inhibit innovation”, so the “top priority of [his] chairmanship will be to work with [his] fellow Commissioners and Congress to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent, and principled approach.” With Atkins as SEC Chairman, the Crypto Task Force is expected to work at its full potential. The Task Force is currently conducting a series of roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, and DeFi to understand “what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them.” Following the completion of some of the roundtables, the SEC has already provided some direction about how tokenized systems can intersect with federal securities laws. Smart contract code will now serve as legal documentation defining investor rights and be treated as traditional legal agreements. Similarly, forks, oracle failures, and DAO dynamics will be part of disclosure obligations. Token issuers are also expected to clearly state a token’s function, consensus mechanism, custody models, risks, and control measures. RWA token issuers will require more disclosure about the maintenance and enforcement of legal rights in hybrid (e.g. digital twins) environments. This approach of engaging with private players at roundtables demonstrates the U.S. administration’s acknowledgment of private companies’ expertise in shaping an innovation-driven regulatory framework for the crypto industry. Vincent Kadar, the chief executive officer of asset tokenization platform Polymath, explained the importance of regulation and its consequences, saying, “Compliance is key to building trust among investors and establishing legitimacy within the broader financial landscape. But some people within the industry think that adopting KYC-AML compliance standards violates web3’s core principles of individual privacy and confidentiality. Nothing could be further from the truth.” Kadar added, “Experts have developed the necessary technology for programmable and automated compliance-first infrastructure that doesn’t compromise investor identities. Unless we focus on trust-building initiatives through a regulation-first stance, it’ll be difficult to attract long-term investors.” The new administration has created a space for all industry stakeholders to freely and actively participate in shaping crypto regulations. But regulation isn’t enough to build trust, onboard more users, and survive the cyclical markets. The industry also needs more viable financial models for the rapidly expanding market in crypto and digital assets projects. Solid Strategic Tokenomics Are A Survival Hack Unlike traditional markets, crypto tokens are easy to list on centralized and decentralized exchanges, facilitating seamless trading opportunities. Consequently, investor attention and liquidity fizzle between multiple projects as users chase a slice of profits before the token devaluation. Project heads need to focus on building more sustainable revenue models to survive beyond a bull market cycle. To do so, projects must have a steady cash flow where the net income exceeds depreciation, amortization, and other investment-related losses. Robust tokenomics and transparent liquidity management are the first steps toward stable revenue and building investor confidence. The token economy must provide substantial incentives to investors to hold their positions over the longer term while delivering clear communication about fund usage through regular revenue reports and disclosing operational costs. Arthur Iinuma, the founder of the crypto consulting company Iinuma.io, has explained that although tokens are essential, projects must use them tactically, outlining in one of his reports, “Some projects may not benefit from the use of tokens at all, for example, where using a token increases the friction to an end user or does not create any additional value or incentive for the user. “Tokens should be designed to complement an ecosystem or drive real-world utility. Their use should be frictionless, and users should benefit from their implementation and issuance. While the issuance and sale of tokens may be a great way to raise capital…this should never be the sole and exclusive rationale for their issuance.” Chris “Jinx” Jenkins, head of operations at Pocket Network, further elaborated on how projects should implement tokenomics for long-term value growth saring, “We have to differentiate crypto tokens from inflation-ridden fiat currencies which depreciate in value over time, which means we can't rely on unnecessary airdrops and unlocking events increasing supply as part of our incentive mechanisms. “Strong tokens will adopt deflationary mechanisms and incentivize usage through buy-backs and burns. Loose tokenomics always leads to value debasement, while a strong and predictable economic ruleset will strengthen the token and its associated protocol.” Volatile markets have once again pushed crypto industry stakeholders to examine their products and offerings. Crypto influencer Nicholas Merten points out, “I think we’re entering a window of time where much of the noise and baseless speculation of crypto will be cleansed from the space. And while many will see this as a difficult period for the industry, it brings us back to the simple question of what have we built? “During bear markets, we figure out which projects are simply focused on their token price and those who continue to work night and day to build real applications within Web3. Put simply, this is great for long-term investors in the space, and I believe now is the time more than ever to lock in and look for the projects who are building genuinely exciting things." We’ve Come A Long Way Baby No one would have imaged just a couple of years back, following the FTX bankruptcy, the crypto and digital assets industry would have come as far as we now have. The global Web3 industry now employs approximately 460,000 professionals, with around 100,000 new jobs added in the past year alone, according to StartUs Insights, “Web3 Industry Report 2025: Market Insights & New Technologies.” The report identifies key Web3 hubs include the U.S., U.K., India, U.A.E, and France, with leading city centers in New York City, Singapore, London, San Francisco, and Dubai. It is estimated that 28 percent, or 64 million Americans own cryptocurrencies . This marks a significant increase from previous years, with ownership nearly doubling since the end of 2021. It is estimated that over 550 million people worldwide own cryptocurrency, with the majority of these outside of G7 countries, representing about 6.8 percent of the global population, and lets not forget about the 1.75 billion people globally mostly residing outside of G7 countries that are registered mobile money users, ripe for stablecoin usage. If the crypto industry wants to shed its image of a “casino” and carve out a self-reliant identity, it must learn to thrive and not barely survive from one speculative news cycle to the next. The ongoing market volatility reminds us to embrace sustainable project revenue models and an innovation-friendly regulatory regime. These models offer strategic benefits by cultivating a community of long-term investors who are essential for the industry’s sustenance and stability. The balance of digital innovation power, especially in the financial services sector, is changing, we may be getting closer to the “tipping point”. It is time to be even more vigilant in the mission to deliver greater token utility in a proportionally regulated environment for crypot and digital assets that allows for mass adoption by consumers and businesses. The new digital economy is nigh. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades