Trust & compliance seen as keys to mainstream Web3 adoption
A new survey of over 1,500 industry professionals, retail participants, and first-time users has highlighted persistent concerns over trust, regulatory compliance, and identity assurance as primary barriers to the widespread adoption of Web3 wallets and digital asset services.
Trust concerns
The survey found that 75.4 percent of respondents currently do not use Web3 wallets. Most cited apprehensions about fraud, inconsistent verification standards, and counterparty risk as reasons for hesitation. Lack of understanding or insufficient education around decentralised infrastructure were also noted as impediments. Nearly half of existing Web3 users called for more platforms featuring verified on-chain transactions.
The findings suggest that technological maturity is no longer the main obstacle for user uptake. Confidence appears to rely on the existence of stronger consumer protections and better awareness of potential risks when operating in a decentralised finance environment.
Compliance expectations
When asked if embedded compliance and transferable Know Your Customer (KYC) credentials at the protocol level would improve their Web3 experience, 59.5 percent responded affirmatively, while another 35.4 percent were tentatively positive. A negligible share of respondents viewed this approach negatively. The survey indicates a shift: compliance is increasingly seen as a fundamental requirement, not a regulatory imposition.
There is also growing demand for interoperable identity solutions. Rather than undergoing repetitive, isolated verification checks across different platforms, users want credentials that are recognised and accepted industry-wide.
Banks as gateways
Traditional financial institutions emerged as potential enablers for secure entry into digital assets and Web3 services. Some 40.5 percent of participants said they would willingly use Web3 offerings from their bank, with another 46.6 percent indicating they might do so. Only 4.5 percent expressed objections. The data positions banks as front-runners to become the default access point for mainstream users seeking trusted exposure to the Web3 ecosystem.
Regulated infrastructure
The survey observed a marked increase in confidence in digital asset platforms operating under compliance-certified frameworks. A combined 87 percent of respondents reported they either would feel confident or are open to using Web3 services provided these run on regulated environments. The expectation for institutional-grade oversight mirrors trends in digital asset tokenisation and stablecoin issuance, where supervision and regulatory backing are increasingly prioritised over decentralisation alone.
The findings underline the industry's expectation for robust identity assurance, clean transaction flows, and transparent value verification - features already standard in traditional finance.
Institutional prerequisites
"Institutions cannot scale on anonymity. To unlock the trillion-dollar potential of Real World Assets (RWA), we need certainty, not mystery. Identity assurance is no longer just a compliance tick-box, it is the essential infrastructure required to bridge Web3 with the real global economy," said Chia Hock Lai, Co-chair, Digital Assets Association.
Demands for portable identity and compliance at the infrastructure level are also growing as the boundaries between traditional finance and digital assets continue to blur.
"The era of anonymous-by-default Web3 is over - real assets, regulated stablecoins, and AI-driven financial flows now require real identity, traceable money, and verifiable counterparties. Without these foundations, institutions and regulators simply cannot participate at scale. Trust-by-design is becoming the prerequisite for Web3's mainstream breakout," said Zhu Feida, Aptos Move Chair Professor, Singapore Management University.
