'Anarchistic neobanks' are bitcoin's next frontier, says Blockrise CEO

Bitcoin-native financial firms have been expanding beyond exchange and custody platforms into lending, payments and banking services, with some industry executives arguing the next phase of adoption will be building bitcoin-centric alternatives to traditional banks.

Speaking with The Block on Thursday at the BTC Prague conference, Blockrise CEO Jos Lazet said his vision is for bitcoin-centric financial platforms to transform into full-service banking alternatives on bitcoin's self-sovereign wavelength.

"My dream goal of Blockrise is a Bitcoin bank," Lazet said.

Across the digital asset industry, companies have been introducing and experimenting with products like bitcoin-backed lending, crypto payment cards, yield services and retail banking services.

Lazet noted that Blockrise recently launched bitcoin-friendly bank accounts with International Bank Account Numbers, or IBANs, and is exploring subscription pricing models similar to neobanks like Revolut.

But unlike traditional fintechs, Lazet argued that bitcoin-native companies have an opportunity to build something different on the fundamental level.

"Today's neobanks are just an optimized version of traditional banks," he said. "They offer more integrated features, but they're not anarchistic — they're not against the system."

"The opportunity that we have is to have an anarchistic neobank," he said.

According to Lazet, this would entail building services around user ownership and self-custody, essentially giving customers more control over their assets while still providing them with everything they need in day-to-day banking.

Bitcoin adoption

Changing gears, Lazet also argued that bitcoin adoption in his home country of the Netherlands is stronger now than at any point in his more than a decade in the industry, despite regulatory shifts and proposals that could increase capital gains taxes.

"I would say even to some extent, Bitcoin adoption is at a peak," he said, pointing to growing institutional acceptance and support for bitcoin exchange-traded funds among Dutch banks.

"The market doesn't reflect it. That's fine. But as long as the story gets told and we're increasing adoption, the Netherlands has a lot of potential to be one of the leading Bitcoin countries in Europe."