Head of Deutsche Börse’s Daughter: Banks Lag Behind DeFi Platforms by Five to Ten Years, 2026/03/24 16:12:19

The CEO of Crypto Finance, a subsidiary of Germany’s largest stock exchange Deutsche Börse, Stijn Vander Straeten, elaborated on why he believes banks will struggle to dominate the cryptocurrency market.

The executive stated that crypto platforms are adopting innovations at a much faster pace than traditional banks. Major financial institutions must await regulatory approval before entering new markets and offering crypto services. This indicates that the adoption of decentralized finance by banks could take an additional five to ten years.

Crypto platforms are already exerting pressure on traditional finance by providing instant settlements and asset trading over the weekends. According to Straeten, the younger generation does not comprehend why they must wait two full days to finalize a transaction after selling stocks on Friday. They desire to reinvest immediately with just a tap of a finger, the banker explained.

The competitive race with crypto services is prompting banks to modernize; however, a significant gap will still remain, Straeten lamented. He believes that large institutions will never take the risk of engaging with crypto assets without clear regulatory guidelines, which is why banks have earned the trust of professional and corporate investors.

Crypto Finance is regulated by the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in Switzerland and holds a license to operate with crypto assets in Europe (MiCA),

American regulators have made progress with oversight rules for cryptocurrencies. Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a joint statement clarifying which cryptocurrencies can be classified as securities and which as commodities.