Web3 Shifts Toward Institutional Adoption Driven by AI

The Web3 industry has undergone significant transformations since Bitcoin emerged during the global financial crisis. From initial coin offerings and NFTs to meme coins and tokenized real-world assets, each cycle has expanded blockchain's potential while testing its long-term value proposition. Today, as institutional investors embrace digital assets, stablecoins gain regulatory acceptance, and artificial intelligence begins to intersect with blockchain infrastructure.

Evan Auyang, Group President at Animoca Brands, shares his outlook on where Web3 stands today. He believes the industry has returned to focusing on practical applications rather than speculative narratives. According to him, the strongest use cases today are stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and increasingly, the intersection between blockchain and artificial intelligence.

Auyang expects institutional adoption to define the next chapter of Web3, which will be accelerated by AI. He believes that Agentic AI could significantly accelerate blockchain adoption by automating transactions and enabling software agents to participate directly in financial systems.