Crypto Reaches Netscape Moment, Says Paradigm Founder

Is crypto at the dawn of its decisive moment? For Matt Huang, co-founder of the Paradigm fund, the industry is approaching a historic turning point, comparable to the arrival of Netscape in the 90s or the iPhone in 2007. These revolutions marked the mass adoption of the Internet and mobile. Today, between technological advances and the influx of institutional capital, crypto could experience its own tipping point, the one that moves a marginal innovation to global usage.

An Unprecedented Institutional Turning Point

While the crypto industry had suffered a historic crash, Matt Huang, co-founder of the investment fund Paradigm, in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), stated that “crypto is living its Netscape moment.”

According to him, the ecosystem functions “more powerfully than ever, far beyond our wildest dreams,” integrating both institutional dynamics and cypherpunk ideals. The nod to Netscape, the first user-friendly web browser launched in 1994 before a historic IPO in 1995, evokes a tipping phase: when technology ceases to be marginal and becomes accessible to all, with the support of traditional finance.

This evolution is embodied today in the rise of regulated investment products that allow institutions to gain exposure to cryptos without going through traditional exchanges.

According to Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst at Bloomberg, 155 crypto ETPs are pending approval as of October 22, 2025, and up to 200 could be launched over the coming year. These products facilitate the entry of traditional investors while adhering to regulatory frameworks.

Here are the main contributions highlighted by analysts:

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  Enhanced accessibility : ETPs offer a gateway to cryptos via traditional brokers, without needing to master wallets or decentralized platforms.
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  Institutional legitimization : their approval by regulators gives digital assets increased credibility with cautious investors.
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  Leverage effect on on-chain liquidity : according to Lacie Zhang, analyst at Bitget Wallet, “ETFs and similar products attract more liquidity to underlying networks by mobilizing institutional capital and new participants”.
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  The coexistence of models : Zhang emphasizes that these tools “do not replace on-chain systems but complement their reach.”

Far from opposing decentralized finance and regulated finance, this turning point seems to mark an expansion of the ecosystem, where established structures can serve as a springboard for wider adoption.

Growth Fueled by Speculation?

Behind this institutional enthusiasm, another reality triggers concern. A significant portion of revenue generated on certain blockchains still relies on purely speculative activities.

Thus, 62% of DApp revenues on Solana in June came from trading memecoins, largely contributing to the $1.6 billion revenue accumulated by the network in the first half of 2025. This dependence on ultra-volatile and often fundamentally worthless assets raises questions about the solidity of the economic model underpinning the current buzz.

Facing this observation, several voices call for refocusing innovation on concrete uses. “The only real risk for the industry is a slowdown in technological development,” warns Edwin Mata, lawyer and CEO of the tokenization platform Brickken.

For him, real value creation does not lie in quick gains from speculative markets but in on-chain capabilities to automate, structure new markets, and offer measurable utility. Far from disqualifying the rise of regulated products, Mata insists on the need to maintain a robust innovation trajectory to avoid a dead end similar to that of the 2000s internet bubble.

If adoption accelerates, flows towards stablecoins could trigger a bond market crash, massively redirecting liquidity from Treasury bonds. Far from trivial, this scenario places crypto at the heart of global financial balances.