2025 will be known as the year banking went on-chain. For years, “crypto neobanks” were a theory. The tech wasn’t ready, the laws were murky, and users didn’t yet trust themselves to hold their own keys. But this year, everything aligned. 1️⃣ Technology matured. L2 networks like @arbitrum, @base, and @Mantle_Official made on-chain payments cheap and instant. Account abstraction and smart wallets (Gnosis Safe, SafePal, Argent) solved crypto’s biggest UX problem – recovery, fees, and usability. Stablecoins became spendable: @gnosispay and @payy_link now let you swipe crypto at any Visa terminal. And restaking protocols like @ether_fi unlocked real yield, powering debit and credit cards with 5–10% returns. The rails were finally fast, cheap, and composable. 2️⃣ Regulation caught up. In Europe, MiCA provided clarity on stablecoins, licensing, and compliance all under one rulebook. In the U.S., the 2025 GENIUS Act legalized USD-backed stablecoins, protecting users and freeing innovators. Together, these laws gave crypto neobanks something they never had before: legitimacy. 3️⃣ Macro tailwinds hit. High interest rates and inflation made people ask why their savings earned 0.1%. Stablecoins earning 5–10% yield suddenly looked rational. A strong dollar drove global demand for digital USD, especially in emerging markets where local currencies were collapsing. Crypto neobanks stepped in, offering dollar accounts, yield, and cards accessible to anyone with a phone. 4️⃣ Users evolved. Crypto users want control with self-custody and also convenience. Not DeFi dashboards, but intuitive apps. Crypto neobanks answered with simple, yield-bearing wallets that feel like Revolut but without middlemen. 5️⃣ Competition stagnated. While traditional neobanks plateaued, Revolut, N26, and Chime turned risk-averse, adding crypto trading but not innovation. Into that void came @Plasma, @UR_global by Mantle, @ether_fi Cash, @gnosispay and @MetaMask, offering higher yields, better cards, and true asset ownership. So why 2025, not earlier? It took this long for the puzzle pieces to align. The infrastructure (L2s, smart wallets, stablecoins) had to mature. The regulators had to bless it. Users had to lose faith in custodians. And fintech incumbents had to slow down just enough for crypto-native builders to break through. I believe this is the final layer of DeFi, the point where finance stops looking “theoretically decentralized” and starts feeling usable. It took a decade of trial, collapse, and evolution. But in 2025, crypto finally became bankable, and banks, finally, became optional.

Are you already neobanked? If not yet, feel free to join my squad ↓ @ether_fi Cash → @UR_global →