Control, not tech, slows enterprise Web3 adoption: Expert

Enterprise adoption of Web3 is being held back not by technological limitations, but by the complexity of orchestration and control across systems, according to Serena Sebastiani, Chief Strategy & Venture Officer at Fuze.

Speaking exclusively at AIBC Eurasia 2026 in Dubai, Sebastiani said enterprises are struggling not with innovation, but with integration. “So in our space, technology rarely fails,” Sebastiani said. “What is really difficult is the orchestration layer and how you keep control of all the pieces and how you put your own ecosystem together.”

She explained that enterprises face mounting challenges in streamlining operations across fragmented systems, including fiat infrastructure, payment rails, liquidity and Web3 technologies. “It’s really around streamlining operations and having control of fiat, rails, liquidity, Web3 and the products and your clients more than technology itself that now evolves,” she added.

A maturing but uneven Web3 landscape

The comments come at a time when Web3 is transitioning from early experimentation to real-world implementation, but still lacks depth in enterprise-grade deployment.

According to Deloitte’s Q2 2025 CFO Signals survey, nearly one in four CFOs expect their finance functions to use digital currency within two years, with adoption rates even higher among larger enterprises (40 per cent). That said, CFOs still have doubts about digital assets. In the survey, about 43 per cent of respondents cited price volatility, 42 per cent complexities around accounting and controls, and 40 per cent cited lack of industry regulation as their top concerns about investing in crypto.

This gap highlights a broader industry challenge: while infrastructure and innovation have advanced rapidly, operational cohesion has lagged behind. Similarly, research from PwC shows that enterprise blockchain adoption is increasingly focused on efficiency gains, particularly in payments, settlements and supply chains, but integration complexity remains a top barrier.

Seamless integration key to mainstream adoption

Looking ahead, Sebastiani argued that mainstream Web3 adoption will depend less on breakthrough products and more on usability. “It’s really a matter of seamless integration,” she said. “There is maybe not one particular product or stream that will lead, it’s how we integrate from a user experience perspective.”

While decentralised finance continues to dominate the crypto landscape, she noted that poor user experience remains a significant hurdle. “DeFi is quite a space and is the largest adoption in crypto, but still, UX is not that great; it has to be improved,” she said. For Sebastiani, the benchmark for success is simple: accessibility for everyday users.

“I’ll be happy to see when my sister or my mother, who do not know anything about crypto, will start using AI, then we can say that we have facilitated that adoption,” she said.

Industry data strongly supports this view. Various studies, including digital asset technology solutions company ChainUp, show that between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of users abandon crypto onboarding before completing their first transaction, largely due to the complexity of wallet setup, gas fees, and identity verification. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent never return after a single use.

Regulation driving institutional confidence

Sebastiani also highlighted regulatory clarity as a key enabler of enterprise adoption. “Regulatory frameworks are enablers eventually,” she said. “Regulators look at predictability, which enables the ecosystem to rely on trust.” She explained that clearer rules create a safer environment for institutions to integrate blockchain into both customer-facing services and underlying infrastructure.

(Source: AIBC World/YouTube)

Recent developments support this shift. In 2025, the European Union advanced its digital finance framework, while global regulators increased efforts to standardise crypto compliance, moves widely seen as unlocking institutional participation.

At the same time, major financial players are actively expanding into blockchain. JPMorgan Chase has issued tokenised debt on blockchain networks, signalling growing confidence in distributed ledger technology. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs recently filed for a Bitcoin-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), aiming to provide exposure to digital assets through regulated investment products.

Governance and privacy take centre stage

As AI and blockchain converge, Sebastiani stressed the importance of governance and compliance. “It always goes back to safeguards and governance,” she said, pointing to evolving privacy regulations such as Europe’s Third Payment Services Directive (PSD3) framework.

She also noted advancements in privacy-preserving blockchain technologies. “It’s really about trust, compliance and governance,” she added. Industry-wide, technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and confidential computing are gaining traction, enabling secure data sharing while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Control remains the core challenge

Despite rapid technological progress, Sebastiani reiterated that control and orchestration remain the central obstacles. “The challenge is how you keep control of all the pieces,” she said, underscoring the difficulty of managing interconnected systems.

The scale of the opportunity reflects the urgency of solving this issue. According to a report by global market research and consulting firm MarketsandMarkets, the global blockchain market is projected to grow from around $33 billion in 2025 to nearly $393 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of over 60 per cent.