In a significant industry outlook, Gate CEO and founder Lin Han declared that traditional banks have lost the war against stablecoins, signaling a major shift in the crypto market's relationship with traditional finance. Speaking at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Han stated the digital asset market has matured into a global macroeconomic pillar, moving in lockstep with U.S. equities and AI-driven shifts rather than being driven by internal supply shocks like Bitcoin's halving events. "I don't believe in the four-year cycle anymore," Han said, emphasizing that the market is now more integrated with the global economy.
Han, who leads the world's fourth-largest exchange with daily volume exceeding $2 billion, framed the industry's evolution from an "existential threat" to becoming the foundational infrastructure of traditional finance. This perspective comes as the American Bankers Association (ABA) urged U.S. Congress to ban yield on payment stablecoins and revise open banking rules, which critics argue would tilt the regulatory field toward banks. Han dismissed this, viewing stablecoins not as a threat but as a technological upgrade banks are eager to adopt. "I have talked with some banks; they are no longer eager to go against crypto," he noted, adding that banks can use stablecoins to accelerate their own services.
Concurrently, Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), outlined her firm's investment thesis focused on future technologies, including stablecoins. Zhang highlighted stablecoins as the first true mass-market crypto application beyond trading. "Stablecoins are currently a very good application for crypto to go to mass adoption," she said, citing improving global compliance frameworks. However, she acknowledged that further work is needed in custody, exchange infrastructure, and on-chain foreign exchange before stablecoins fully mature.
Gate is executing a massive global rebranding, moving to the Gate.com domain and securing sponsorships with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Inter Milan. The goal is to prepare for a wave of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization extending beyond the current stablecoin market. Han anticipates a rapid migration of stocks, precious metals, and commodities onto the blockchain, with Gate already offering tokenized access to traditional assets. "We will beat traditional exchanges and banks very soon," he claimed, citing the efficiency of on-chain liquidity and 24/7 trading infrastructure perfected by crypto-native platforms.
Despite market volatility in 2025, Han remains bullish, pointing to a 15x growth in crypto-based payments over the last two years as evidence of real-world utility. He also sees the AI boom as a "strong support" for crypto, driving the next wave of adoption at the intersection of AI and blockchain. Both leaders emphasized a focus on fundamentals and user demand over market narratives, with YZi Labs prioritizing product pain points and early signals of genuine demand in its investments across AI, biotech, and Web3.
