Crypto innovation is accelerating across finance and technology, driving initial public offering booms, reshaping artificial intelligence infrastructure and forcing policymakers to confront the future of manufacturing and global competition.

Momentum is no longer confined to speculation — it’s shifting markets, fueling regulatory debates and creating new avenues for investment. TheCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers event last week highlighted how blockchain leaders are mainstreaming digital assets, while the Bullish IPO showed how far crypto has come in gaining credibility on Wall Street.

On the latest episode of theCUBE Pod, theCUBE Research Executive Analyst John Furrier (pictured, left) and Chief Analyst Dave Vellante (right) discussed these developments in detail. They explored the surge of IPO demand led by Bullish, the possibility of U.S. intervention to secure semiconductor leadership and the longer-term payoff of enterprise AI, where today’s bets could yield a decade of transformation.

“The success of AI … is really digging into the hardware, the [semiconductors], tying the software as close to the hardware as possible,” Furrier said. “Again, back like we always say, in the ’90s, always had that memory management processor and storage relationship to the network. The same thing is true here.”

The rise of crypto innovation and public markets

The past year has underscored the momentum of digital assets, with IPOs now serving as a key marker of crypto’s entry into mainstream finance. The Bullish IPO in particular drew intense attention, jumping to a valuation of more than $10 billion and trading well above its initial pricing, according to Vellante.

“I think on the IPO front with Bullish, I think it’s a confluence of three factors,” he said. “One is obviously the regulatory climate has gone from Gary Gensler, ‘No crypto for you,’ to David Sacks and the Trump Administration of, ‘Come on in. We want to be the world’s leading destination for crypto innovation.’”

This momentum reflects not just investor interest, but also a maturing ecosystem. The 2017 initial coin offering boom may have sparked early enthusiasm, but today’s offerings are driven by infrastructure and ventures with staying power. The concentration of activity at the New York Stock Exchange signals how seriously Wall Street is taking these shifts, Vellante added.

“There’s just such a pent-up demand for IPOs,” he said. “The New York Stock Exchange has become the place for crypto action, and there’s a lot of momentum right now.”

AI disruption and government intervention

Alongside crypto innovation, the conversation increasingly turns to the role of AI and government strategy in shaping global competition. From Perplexity AI Inc.’s bold $34 billion overture to buy Chrome to concerns about Intel Corp.’s future in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, the theme is clear: Disruption is accelerating and national policy is never far behind, Furrier explained.

“This is the thesis that the U.S. is saying: ‘Let’s save Intel.’ This is a bailout like they did with GM in the auto industry. That’s what some speculate,” he said. “I’m saying, maybe there’s a little bit more here, a little more upside potential.”

These pressures tie directly into how innovation unfolds. The AI arms race requires custom silicon, deeper software-hardware integration and government backing for secure supply chains. As companies such as Nvidia Corp., Amazon Web Services Inc. and Anthropic PBC align hardware and AI models more closely, the question is no longer whether disruption will happen, but how fast, Vellante emphasized.

“The only way you can catch up is if you have unlimited capacity or unlimited cash and unlimited time and patience to bomb pricing, lose money for a long, long time so you can gain market share, get on the learning curve — which is essentially what Wright’s Law is — and then compete for volume so that you can at least become a viable second source to TSM,” he said.

From tokens to ventures, investors play the long game

Looking back at recent milestones, the momentum of digital assets and related technologies is evident. TheCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers event showcased how leading voices in blockchain and finance are driving mainstream adoption and crypto innovation, while the Bullish IPO illustrated how fast crypto is gaining credibility in traditional markets.

“My reading in between the lines from all the interviews … was one, it’s definitely mainstreaming crypto. It’s happening. It’s happening fast,” Furrier said. “You mentioned money. The people who have the money now are the people who are doing these deals.”

The conversations at the event also revealed how regulatory and financial systems are evolving in real time. Veteran innovators and investors who were present from the beginning are now deploying capital with a longer-term view, shaping not just markets but also future infrastructure, according to Furrier.

“They’re not just funding ICOs, they’re funding ventures,” he added. “This is entrepreneurial. It’s not just arbitrage, make some token economics, get a token, liquidate it. There’s a longer game view happening.”

Watch the full podcast below to find out why these industry pros were mentioned:

Brian J. Baumann, founder of NYSE Wired and director of capital markets, technology at NYSE
Gary Gensler, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
David Sacks, White House AI and crypto czar
Donald Trump, 45th and 47th president of the United States of America
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel
Rob Hof, editor-in-chief at SiliconANGLE Media
Joe Kernen, American newscaster
Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
George Gilbert, principal analyst at theCUBE Research
Sarbjeet Johal, founder and CEO of Stackpane
Duncan Davidson, general partner at Bullpen Capital
Anton Katz, co-founder and CEO at Talos
Andrew Keys, co-founder and chairman at The Ether Machine
Ella Zhang, managing partner and head of YZi Labs
Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink
Diogo Monica, co-founder and executive chairman of Anchorage, the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Anchor Labs, and general partner at Haun Ventures Management LP
Marc Benioff, chair and CEO at Salesforce

Here’s the full episode of this week’s theCUBE Pod:

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Photo: SiliconANGLE