1/ One of the most interesting areas of consumer fintech to watch over the next 5 years is whether global crypto wallets and exchanges will be able to replicate the features of banks before existing banks replicate the features of crypto wallets and exchanges

2/ Crypto features include buying / selling BTC, high yield stablecoin / BTC based savings accounts and collateralized loans, stablecoin based payments, etc

Traditional banking features include debit / credit cards, direct deposits for paychecks, stock trading, etc

3/ Today, it seems pretty one directional with crypto exchanges quickly executing on these features that can help them evolve from speculative retail brokerages into global crypto banks with few traditional banks competing with them on their core crypto features

4/ Crypto exchanges are likely to have more global user bases, lower customer acquisition costs, and higher engagement via their mobile apps than most banks in addition to revenue from trading fees that can subsidize other products

5/ However, as token based retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC) gain momentum, they could become a forcing function for traditional banks to invest in crypto infrastructure in order to be able to integrate CBDC into their existing products.

6/ As forward thinking banks get more familiar with crypto infrastructure, they will have opportunities to replicate crypto features that can compete with crypto exchanges while driving customer acquisition for their existing banking services

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