Recently, I’ve been thinking about how Compound approved a $52 million move towards institutional credit on-chain transformation. Similarly, USD1 just received conditional approval from the OCC, signaling a shift towards financial institutions. In the past, the core narrative of crypto was all about being 'anti'—anti-institution, anti-bank, anti-Wall Street. But now, the most interesting change is that the leading protocols are actively aligning themselves with the financial institution model. USD1 getting conditional approval from the OCC is essentially heading in the same direction. It’s becoming less like DeFi and more like banks and trust institutions. A very interesting phenomenon and trend. I’ve looked into analyses from multiple AIs, and this seems like an inevitable trend. Crypto has primarily served retail speculators, but the ceiling for that is now very obvious, and it’s highly cyclical. On the other hand, if it serves institutional assets, credit markets, stablecoin settlements, and custody, it taps into the migration dividends of the financial system. These are two completely different market scales. It might feel like crypto is 'surrendering,' but this could actually be the way for crypto to truly enter mainstream finance—by influencing and transforming traditional finance through a different model. Back to USD1. Currently, USD1 has surpassed $4 billion in circulation. Honestly, trying to achieve exponential growth through interest subsidies or exchange promotions is incredibly difficult, with diminishing marginal returns. It has to enter larger application scenarios that can handle greater capital volumes, like institutional custody and corporate settlements. But this requires extremely high standards for regulation and reserves. You can’t just tell outsiders, 'Look at my TVL' or 'My interest rates are so competitive.' What they care about is whether you have licenses and reserve management systems. Big capital demands certainty, which means USD1 will have to undergo stricter scrutiny. But that’s a good thing. I’ve always thought USD1’s goal is to follow the political and financial dollar route. The OCC approval is essentially giving USD1 an institutional identity.