At BEYOND Expo 2026 in Macao, KuCoin put forward a message that felt especially timely for an industry still trying to define what comes next for Web3: trust is no longer just a feature, but the new infrastructure on which the market is being built.
That was the central idea from KuCoin Chief Marketing Officer Skylar Wu, who took part in the panel discussion titled “The Answer to Web3 Liquidity: Asset Management, CEX, DEX and the Future.”
Her remarks reflected a wider shift underway across the crypto sector, where the focus is moving away from speculative cycles, short-lived incentives, and attention-driven growth, and toward something far more durable. In KuCoin’s view, the next stage of competition will not be won by the platforms that generate the most hype, but by those that can earn and sustain user confidence over time.
“The era of growth driven purely by speculative traffic and short-term incentives is fading,” Wu said during the discussion. “The next generation of platforms will not win because they attract the most attention — they will win because they build the most trusted infrastructure.”
The comment captured a broader change in how the digital asset industry is evolving. In the early stages of crypto adoption, growth was often measured by transaction volumes, token campaigns, and the ability to attract trading activity quickly.
But as digital assets become more tightly linked with mainstream finance, those metrics are no longer enough on their own. Users, institutions, and regulators are now placing greater value on execution reliability, transparency, compliance, and security resilience.
The New Infrastructure for Web3
Wu said the definition of infrastructure itself is changing with the market. Speed and liquidity still matter, but they are no longer the only benchmarks. “In the past, infrastructure was measured primarily by speed and liquidity,” she explained. “Today, infrastructure must also be measured by resilience, compliance, transparency, and the ability to operate sustainably across global markets.”
That shift is also influencing the way liquidity is structured. Rather than staying trapped inside separate silos, centralized exchanges, decentralized protocols, institutional systems, and payment networks are gradually moving toward a more connected environment.
KuCoin described this as “hybrid liquidity,” a model in which users care less about the technical source of liquidity and more about whether their transactions are efficient, secure, and dependable.
Wu said the user experience of the future will be shaped by abstraction, not complexity. In her view, successful platforms will hide the friction of blockchain infrastructure and offer interfaces that feel as simple and intuitive as mainstream internet products. That direction, she suggested, will be crucial if Web3 is to move beyond a niche market and into everyday financial use.
She also noted that Bitcoin ETFs, growing stablecoin use, and more developed regulatory frameworks are clear signs that digital assets are slowly moving beyond speculation and into the financial system itself.
Stablecoins, in particular, are starting to be seen as more than just trading assets. They are increasingly being used as payment and settlement rails, with the potential to support cross-border payments and global commerce.
For KuCoin, that trend aligns with its broader “Trust First” strategy. The company highlighted its ongoing investments in proof of reserves transparency, institutional-grade infrastructure, security systems, and global compliance efforts, including its $2 billion Trust Project.
Those efforts are part of a larger attempt to position KuCoin not just as a trading venue, but as a platform built for the next generation of digital finance. Wu’s closing remarks framed the moment in broader terms.
“Web3 is no longer just building trading platforms,” she said. “The industry is building the trust infrastructure for the next era of digital finance. As global markets become increasingly interconnected, KuCoin aims to evolve beyond an exchange and help build the trust infrastructure that powers the One Global Financial Market.”
Founded in 2017, KuCoin says it now serves more than 40 million users across over 200 countries and regions. The platform offers access to more than 1,500 digital assets and says its growth has been supported by strong security measures, global compliance progress, and certifications including SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019.
It has also pointed to milestones such as AUSTRAC registration in Australia and a MiCA license in Europe as part of its expanding regulatory footprint. At a time when the crypto sector is under pressure to prove its long-term relevance, KuCoin’s message at BEYOND Expo was clear: the companies that survive the next phase will be the ones that users, institutions, and regulators can trust.
