For all the talk of mass adoption in crypto, institutions have yet to arrive in any meaningful way. Artur Gulinski, COO of Zekret Labs, says the issue is not interest. It is infrastructure.
“Everyone since 2020 has been talking about mass adoption,” he says. “Another 50 million retail users does not equal mass adoption. If institutions come in, they bring people with them. But they can’t come unless they can report.”
Gulinski believes institutions want to use blockchain technology but are blocked by regulatory uncertainty and operational risk. “They don’t want to be caught holding illicit funds. They don’t want to be part of a system that can’t be audited.”
This is where Zekret positions itself. As a Layer 3 compliance plugin, it enables clean entry into any Layer 1 or Layer 2 blockchain by filtering users and funds before they ever touch the chain. Screening, KYC, KYB and ZK ID are built in. “From day one, we track, screen, and trace,” he says. “If your funds are dirty, they don’t come in.”
Gulinski points to a range of challenges that traditional institutions face when approaching blockchain. First among them is the lack of reversibility.
“In traditional finance, a bank makes a mistake, it can reverse the transfer. In blockchain, once it’s done, it’s done. That alone prevents banks from fully committing.”
He sees payroll as another critical use case. “Global companies spend millions on bank fees just to move money around. One firm I looked at pays three and a half million dollars a year just in transaction costs. Blockchain can reduce that to a few hundred.”
But again, reporting is the bottleneck. “They can’t move to blockchain because they can’t track where the money goes. They don’t know what’s coming in or out, and regulators will not accept that.”
Stablecoins and OTC buys are not enough. “People say institutions are already here. They’re not. Buying Bitcoin OTC or launching a stablecoin is not adoption. That’s toe-dipping. Real adoption is building infrastructure. They’re not doing that yet.”
Gulinski says clean capital is non-negotiable for institutions. They must be able to show that every wallet and token they interact with has passed through verified checks.
“The legacy chains are full of illicit money. You can’t erase that. Zekret starts clean. That’s why institutions are interested.”
He describes conversations with banks and regulators who want to engage but lack technical pathways.
“They don’t want to build compliance from scratch. They want someone else to do it and offer them a tool. Zekret is that tool. It’s not about hype. It’s about trust.”
Even expectations around returns are changing.
“VCs used to want a 10x in six months. That’s not how institutions think. They want stability. They want to be part of something sustainable. If we offer that, they’ll come.”
The message, Gulinski says, is simple.
“Institutions don’t fear crypto. They fear chaos. If we give them structure, they’ll show up.”
