Beyond traditional finance

Former PwC Crypto leader and partner and adjunct professor at the university of Hong Kong, Henri Arslanian is the co-founder and managing partner of the crypto hedge fund Nine Blocks Capital Management. In partnership with CoinShares, he explains why digital assets and what is known as traditional finance are becoming interconnected.

In this final segment, Henri Arslanian explores the technological and generational shifts that are redefining the very fabric of money. From Web1 to Web3, he contextualizes how we arrived at this pivotal moment—where value, like information before it, is going digital. In this environment, Bitcoin functions as digital gold, while other assets like Ethereum and Solana enable the infrastructure of decentralized applications and value exchange. As economies and financial systems increasingly move online, Bitcoin and other blockchain-based assets are likely to play an integral role in the next chapter of global finance. We are living through what may be the most transformative period in the history of money, where traditional and digital assets will coexist and redefine how value is stored and exchanged.

This evolution isn’t theoretical; it’s happening now, driven by both infrastructure and the mindset of younger generations who view digital-first as natural.

Key takeaways

• Web1 was about reading information (like digitized Yellow Pages), Web2 introduced interaction and social media, Web3 now enables users to own, exchange, and transfer value, in real-time and without centralized intermediaries.

• Digital assets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, etc.) are the infrastructure of value in this new ecosystem.

• Generational shift toward digital-native money: Kids and young adults spend their time in digital realms—Roblox, Minecraft, etc. To them, using digital currency is intuitive.

• Arslanian urges advisors to ask young people what they think about Bitcoin—their digital-first worldview might surprise older generations.