Lukka’s Materazzi: Crypto Is Here, and All the Biggest Banks Know It

Crypto businesses are increasingly leaning into traditional banking products, Materazzi said, and he is excited to see how traditional banking starts to merge with digital assets.

article-image

Robert Materazzi, CEO of Lukka

share
  • Robert Materazzi sees further regulation as an opportunity to bring greater security and legitimacy to the digital asset space, if done well
  • There is going to be an increase in traditional financial institutions leaning into crypto products and offerings, he said

Banking in cryptocurrencies is here to stay, Robert Materazzi, CEO of Lukka, told Blockworks earlier this month at the Bretton Woods: The Realignment conference. 

“I don’t think that many people can argue that it isn’t here,” said Materazzi “All of the big banks are working on it in some way, with actual business units, if they haven’t already launched, they are just about to, which is very exciting.” 

Crypto businesses are increasingly leaning into traditional banking products, he said, and he is excited to see how traditional banking starts to merge with digital assets. 

Materazzi, who works closely with regulators day-to-day, is excited about how further regulation can elevate the digital asset space. 

“Buy some crypto, first,” Materazzi said of his advice to regulators trying to better understand the space. “What I mean by that is get your hands dirty, you have to actually go through the motions.” 

Watch my full interview with Materazzi below.

Want more investor-focused content on digital assets? Join us September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket. Buy it now.

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Marina Bay Sands Singapore

October 7, 2026

DAS Asia is a a single-day summit at Marina Bay Sands Singapore featuring conversations between the builders, investors, and global leaders are shaping the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in Asia & North America.

Hilton Park Lane, London

November 10-11, 2026

DAS London is a two-day summit at the Hilton Park Lane in London featuring conversations between the builders, allocators, and policy makers who are shaping the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the UK, Europe, and North America.

recent research

Onchain Gacha Cover Image.png

Research

Onchain gacha platforms sold $284.3 million of digital card packs in July 2026, and Collector Crypt accounted for more than half of that activity. However, it buys back 92.9% of what it sells, which leaves it with a third of the category's revenue on more than half of its volume, and a quarter of its activity arrives through partner apps whose users it does not own. Courtyard runs the opposite model, a consumer app selling smaller packs to thousands of retail buyers who resell the cards to each other, and it took 59.7% of category revenue while growing through a month the category spent contracting. This report compares the five largest platforms on gross activity, buyback intensity, revenue after buybacks, consumer composition, marketplace liquidity, and distribution ownership, and finds Courtyard the strongest performer as of July 2026, with the qualification that none of the five discloses inventory costs or resale proceeds, so no platform in the category can yet be shown to be profitable.

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Blockworks Research

Unlock crypto's most powerful research platform.

Our research packs a punch and gives you actionable takeaways for each topic.

SubscribeGet in touch

Blockworks Inc.

133 W 19th St., New York, NY 10011

Blockworks Network

PodcastsNewslettersEventsRoundtablesAnalytics