Banks and brokerage firms are quietly "eating away" at market share from crypto exchanges, and they're winning. 🏦 That's the conclusion of Tiger Research after surveying nine Asian countries. As governments began allowing Bitcoin ETFs (investment funds that track the price of Bitcoin and can be purchased through regular securities accounts), investors gradually moved away from purely crypto exchange and onto more familiar platforms such as banking apps or brokerage apps. 📉 In South Korea, although nearly 16 million people have traded crypto on domestic exchanges, the Medium daily volume is gradually decreasing. Tiger Research notes that investors are shifting to the stock market or international exchanges in search of better returns. South Korean securities firm Mirae Asset is even preparing to acquire Korbit, the country's oldest Bitcoin exchange. 💬 David Sacks, the US government's AI and crypto advisor, stated in January 2026 that banks would fully integrate into the crypto industry, blurring the lines between banking and crypto, merging into a single digital asset sector. Tiger Research concluded that the strength of traditional financial institutions lies in their more familiar experience. Crypto exchanges that want to survive must demonstrate value that banks cannot provide, such as access to decentralized finance ( DeFi) and a more diversified portfolio of altcoins. But Tiger Research also warned that these services would be meaningless if the exchange did not provide basic explanations for the group of investors who are still unfamiliar with crypto.