# Crypto Wants Institutional Money. KBW Showed What It Still Has to Build.

> Korea Blockchain Week highlights: Hayes’ $10,000 ETH forecast, MoonPay’s banking plans, Metaplex tokenization, Compound and the rise of AI payments.

By Lidia Yadlos · October 1, 2026

Canonical: https://blockster.com/crypto-wants-institutional-money-kbw-showed-what-it-still-has-to-build

A $10,000 Ethereum prediction. A company holding more than 6 million ETH. Korean banks planning stablecoin transfer tests and a central bank preparing to experiment with tokenized government bonds.

Korea Blockchain Week brought big numbers to Seoul. It also put a practical question behind them: what does crypto need to build for institutional money to become a lasting part of its markets?

Across the conference and surrounding announcements, the answers included investor checks, dependable lending markets, bank connections and controls for software that can spend money.

Metaplex and Compound offered a clear starting point. Bringing assets onchain creates an opportunity. Building markets investors trust enough to use repeatedly is what turns it into a business.

[Post from @kbwofficial on X](https://twitter.com/kbwofficial/status/2105309622139519237)

## Metaplex Brings Financial Assets to Solana—with Rules Attached

Tokenization creates a blockchain-based representation of an asset. But putting an investment onchain does not remove the rules governing who can buy it or how it can be sold.

[Metaplex’s ](https://www.metaplex.com/)**MPL-3643** standard addresses that problem on Solana, allowing issuers to configure investor eligibility and transfer restrictions. Its documentation describes the product as early access on mainnet, with an audit still to come.

Mack Hom, president at Metaplex, explained the opportunity in comments shared with Blockster around KBW:

> “The opportunity is bringing all of finance onchain, from assets already traded in public markets to private assets that have historically been illiquid. Tokenization can create new markets and expand access to both capital and liquidity.”

As [Blockster explored in its earlier coverage of MPL-3643](https://blockster.com/metaplex-wants-to-bring-more-financial-assets-to-solanawith-investor-checks-built-in), the aim is to build investor checks into the assets themselves.

> “MPL-3643 provides the rails for issuers to tokenize assets directly on Solana with native compliance, combining Solana’s speed, liquidity, and composability with the ability to enforce the rules that apply to each asset,” Hom said.

For private investments that have traditionally been difficult to sell, easier transfers could open new possibilities. Buyers, reliable pricing and confidence in the underlying investment still have to follow.

[Post from @BlocksterCom on X](https://twitter.com/BlocksterCom/status/2104580548131696644?s=20)

## Compound: Attracting Capital Is Easier Than Keeping It

That distinction ran through Christopher Donovan’s comments following his appearances at ETHKorea’s “How to Build Sustainable DeFi” and Liquidity Evening’s “How Institutional Capital Finds DeFi.”

The [Compound Foundation](https://www.compound.xyz/redirect) COO argued that institutional curiosity and lasting investment remain two different things.

> “DeFi has come a long way, but there is still a significant gap between institutional interest and long-term institutional capital. Closing that gap will depend less on incentives and more on building markets institutions can trust and use at scale.”

Crypto’s rewards programs have shown how quickly money can follow an attractive offer. The challenge comes when those rewards shrink.

> “One of the clearest lessons from the liquidity-mining era is that incentives can attract capital, but they do not necessarily create durable markets,” Donovan said. “Sustainable DeFi needs real utility, sound economics, and users who have a reason to stay.”

For institutional investors, that requires more than an appealing return.

> “For institutions, the bar is understandably high. Security, risk management, market structure, and the ability to deploy meaningful amounts of capital all matter if DeFi is going to become part of their long-term allocation strategy.”

Donovan pointed to the Compound Institutional Market as part of that effort.

> “The Compound Institutional Market reflects a broader shift towards designing DeFi products around institutional requirements from the outset. The early engagement is encouraging, but the priority remains building carefully and sustainably.”

[Post from @Compound\_xyz on X](https://twitter.com/Compound_xyz/status/2105298465442152454?s=20)

## Korea Wants a Bigger Role in Global Finance

For Korea, those questions also concern its position in international markets.

Dunamu CEO Oh Kyoung-suk used his September 30 appearance to outline ambitions beyond operating Upbit: connecting Korean finance with global blockchain infrastructure.

His plans include bringing blockchain-based financial services closer to consumer payment platforms. Dunamu’s proposed combination with Naver Financial provides context for that strategy, although the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval.

> The Bank of Korea added a concrete development: a government bond tokenization pilot planned for 2027, intended to improve transaction processes and access for domestic and overseas investors.

Lawmaker Min Byeong-deok also called for a framework for won-backed stablecoins, emphasizing redemption and reserve verification. His remarks concerned policy proposals, rather than rules that had already passed.

Those developments put Korea’s own currency, government debt and payment systems at the center of the discussion.

MoonPay’s Korean expansion supplied a practical banking example. As [Blockster reported this week](https://blockster.com/moonpay-teams-up-with-three-korean-banking-giants-to-bring-stablecoins-into-everyday-finance), the company is working with **KakaoBank, Woori Bank and KB Financial Group** on international transfers, stablecoins and digital asset services.

[Post from @BlocksterCom on X](https://twitter.com/BlocksterCom/status/2104920764054905273?s=20)

KakaoBank’s proposed test targets transfers from Korea into a U.S. bank account in **under one hour**, initially focusing on international students. That includes converting the funds and completing the bank payout.

Woori’s plans cover international payments and potential won-backed stablecoin distribution. KB Financial Group’s work extends across wallets, custody, issuance and payments. These remain development programs and tests.

For customers, the appeal is straightforward: money that reaches its destination faster and works with the banking services they already use.

## Ripple Sees Tokenization Growing on Public Networks

Institutions also have to decide where their blockchain-based assets should live.

> In a KBW clip shared by XRPL community member Vet, Ripple president Monica Long was asked whether most tokenized volume would end up on private or public blockchains. Her answer was **“public.”**

Long also pointed to privacy and permission features under development for the XRP Ledger.

That connects naturally with Metaplex’s work on Solana. Financial firms want the reach of public networks while retaining controls over assets, participants and sensitive information.

The ability to transfer an investment is only part of the requirement. The institution responsible for it also needs to control the conditions under which it moves.

[Post from @Vet\_X0 on X](https://twitter.com/Vet_X0/status/2105260776923759088)

## Hayes Calls for $10,000 ETH as BitMine’s Holdings Pass 6 Million

The institutional conversation came with bullish market expectations.

Arthur Hayes said at KBW that he expected **Ethereum to reach $10,000 by the end of 2026**, according to reporting from the event. The target represents his forecast.

Tom Lee’s “Ethereum’s Wall Street Moment” keynote had a substantial corporate allocation behind it. Ahead of the conference, BitMine reported holding **more than 6 million ETH**.

> “In our view, institutions are still underweight crypto,” Lee said in BitMine’s pre-conference announcement.

The figures make the institutional story tangible: some companies are already committing significant capital while others are still evaluating how to participate.

[Post from @CoinDesk on X](https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/2105155684568350938?s=20)

The conference program also explored what those investors need once they enter these markets.

[Hyperliquid](https://hyperliquid.xyz/) co-founder Jeff Yan’s session focused on Wall Street and **24/7 trading**. Always-open markets give investors more flexibility, but they also require liquidity and risk controls that keep working overnight and through weekends.

Sessions featuring [Kraken](https://www.kraken.com/) and [Canton Network](https://www.canton.network/) explored broader financial infrastructure and connected capital markets. The practical challenge is connecting trading, payments and asset ownership so money can move more easily between services.

Joe Lubin’s discussion with Camila Russo focused on [MetaMask’s](https://metamask.io/) next chapter. That raises a practical question as more investments move onchain: how easily can users find, buy and manage them through a wallet?

## Pharos Gives Agents the Tools to Act on Investments

Software acting on behalf of customers introduced another set of requirements.

Pharos announced its **Agent Native upgrade at KBW on September 30**, bringing together tools for agents to work with financial assets and a roadmap for accounts, authorization and payments.

As [Blockster covered in its September 30 report](https://blockster.com/pharos-wants-ai-agents-to-do-more-than-talk-about-your-money), the proposed experience allows users to ask about investments and prepare actions while retaining control. Capabilities are arriving in stages.

Co-founder and CEO Wish Wu described the ambition:

> “We are giving agents — a new class of economic actors — the accounts, authorization and payments they need to operate.”

The conference also included a panel on x402, AI payments and privacy, reflecting growing interest in software that can pay for services.

[Post from @BlocksterCom on X](https://twitter.com/BlocksterCom/status/2105290075244294191?s=20)

Separately, in an announcement during KBW week, t54 said it had surpassed [10 million agentic transactions on XRPL](https://blockster.com/t54-hits-10-million-agent-transactions-on-xrp-ledger-as-software-gets-more-spending-power) and extended roughly **$650,000 in credit to AI agents** through Claw Credit.

Those company-reported figures raise another version of the institutional trust question: when software can spend money, who authorizes it, how much can it use and what happens when it makes a mistake?

From tokenized investments to automated payments, KBW’s strongest developments addressed the conditions around the transaction. Bringing money onchain is the opening move. Building services people trust enough to keep using is the business.