Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz argues that crypto and blockchain companies should accelerate institutional adoption while the current US regulatory environment permits it. His reasoning, as reported by Cointelegraph, is that widespread use could make a future policy reversal harder—not impossible. Adoption is a strategic bet on political inertia, not a guarantee against new laws or regulatory changes.
What Yuval Rooz argued at Token2049
Cointelegraph reported on Oct. 8, 2026, that Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, made the case at Token2049 in Singapore for using the present regulatory climate to expand institutional blockchain adoption. He framed the goal as making the technology sufficiently embedded that a future administration would find it difficult to unwind.
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To illustrate, Rooz compared blockchain’s potential trajectory with Uber and Airbnb. Cointelegraph quoted him as saying: “By the time people got their act together and decided, OK, we wanna legislate against those companies, it was too late.” The line expresses his analogy; it does not establish that those companies or blockchain are beyond lawmakers’ reach. Cointelegraph also reproduced his phrase “there is no going back” about what the industry should aim to achieve by 2028. These remarks are attributed to the outlet’s account; an event recording or transcript was not available to independently confirm the wording.
Why adoption could matter—and what it cannot guarantee
Rooz’s argument is that institutions’ reliance on blockchain could create political and economic pressure to preserve useful systems. If a technology becomes part of everyday business infrastructure, changing the rules may carry costs for firms, customers, and public institutions.
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That is a plausible political strategy, not a legal shield. Adoption does not remove Congress’s ability to pass legislation, nor does it prevent agencies from changing how they exercise authority within the law. A future administration could still alter policy; the practical effects would depend on the rules adopted, the institutions affected, and the costs of transition. Cointelegraph’s report offers no adoption statistics or other quantitative evidence demonstrating that widespread use would prevent a policy reversal.
The US policy backdrop described in the report
Cointelegraph placed Rooz’s comments against a fluid US legislative and regulatory backdrop. It reported that a September Senate procedural vote failed to advance the CLARITY Act, and that the SEC and CFTC continued working under existing authority. Those are time-sensitive descriptions from the article, not independently verified here against official records; they should not be read as a complete account of the agencies’ current actions or the bill’s subsequent status.
The same report described different views among panel participants. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng hoped the CLARITY Act would become law. Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson said legislation would provide greater certainty, but advised against relying on the bill passing. Their positions illustrate the tension between seeking statutory clarity and making plans that do not depend on a particular bill becoming law.
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| Approach | What it offers | Key uncertainty |
|---|---|---|
| Legislation, such as the CLARITY Act discussed in the report | A statute could set rules through Congress and provide a more durable framework. Johnson, as quoted by Cointelegraph, said legislation would bring greater certainty. | Passage is not assured, and the report’s account of the September procedural vote is not independently verified here. |
| Agency action under existing authority | Regulators can continue working within authority already in place, as Cointelegraph reported the SEC and CFTC were doing. | Agency approaches may change, and the report does not establish what particular future actions will be taken. |
| Faster institutional adoption | Rooz’s proposed strategy is to build practical use and reliance while the opportunity exists. | Greater adoption may affect the political costs of reversal, but it does not legally prevent a change in policy. |
What the claim means for institutions
For institutions considering blockchain, Rooz’s message is to evaluate useful applications now rather than assume that a favorable regulatory window will remain open. That does not mean adopting technology solely to influence politics. Organizations still need to assess whether a system solves a real operational problem and whether its legal, governance, security, and transition risks are acceptable.
- Separate operational value from policy expectations. A business case should work on its merits, not depend on the assumption that adoption will block future regulation.
- Plan for more than one regulatory outcome. The positions reported by Cointelegraph show why firms may want to prepare for both legislative clarity and continued reliance on existing agency authority.
- Treat entrenchment as influence, not immunity. A widely used system may raise the cost of changing course, but the report provides no evidence that it would prevent lawmakers or regulators from acting.
What remains uncertain
Cointelegraph also reported Rooz’s statement that the next US presidential election was scheduled for Nov. 7, 2028. That date, like the outlet’s account of the Senate vote and agency activity, has not been independently checked here against official election or government sources. The central point does not depend on that date: Rooz is urging the industry to build adoption before political conditions shift, while the extent to which adoption could constrain future policy remains unproven.
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