Crypto markets have steadied somewhat after a period of volatility, but their longer-term significance lies in their expanding role in financial infrastructure.

On the surface, digital assets still look under significant pressure. Markets have improved since hitting long-term lows in late February, but crypto prices remain far from last year’s records and investor sentiment is materially cooler than during the last cycle.

Beneath the volatility, however, a more important structural transition continues to accelerate.

In our view, the defining development in digital assets today is the steady buildout of blockchain-based financial infrastructure. The discussion is increasingly shifting away from whether digital assets matter to how…