Where Traditional Finance Meets Web3: A Conversation with Ramp Network’s Przemek Kowalczyk

Crypto has promised an entirely new financial paradigm for over a decade. While this has benefited the majority of people to some extent, the sector still feels opaque and precarious. The technology is undoubtedly powerful, but the experience often comes with fragmented tools, irreversible decisions and unclear rules.

Przemek Kowalczyk, the CEO and co-founder of Ramp Network, has spent years navigating the fault line between traditional finance and Web3. In the following conversation, he shares the real frictions slowing everyday adoption, the regulatory currents reshaping product design around the world, and why the future of digital assets may depend less on innovation and much more on making value feel intuitive, secure, and trusted.

You’ve worked for many years to make cryptocurrency onboarding easier. What do you think are the biggest remaining bottlenecks preventing mainstream users from entering Web3, and how can the industry address them?

The biggest friction today is uncertainty. No technical barriers, but the feeling that you have to be an expert to participate safely. People worry about making irreversible mistakes, choosing the wrong asset, or interacting with something that feels opaque. The industry still communicates as a technical discipline rather than a financial ecosystem.

The solution is clarity and predictability. Not by oversimplifying crypto, but by presenting it in a way that reflects the way people already use digital finance. When buying or exchanging assets feels as familiar as topping up a digital wallet, the psychological barrier drops. That’s the direction we’re taking at Ramp Network: a single account where you can buy, sell, trade, send and cash out without constantly thinking about networking or tooling.

If we want the industry to move forward, we need to reduce cognitive load, speak the user’s language and ensure actions feel safe, consistent and intuitive. When the experience feels familiar, adoption follows.

The regulatory environment for on- and off-ramp providers has evolved rapidly in recent years. How do global differences in licensing and compliance shape product design and innovation in this area?

Regulation is now one of the biggest forces shaping product architecture. We operate in regions where digital asset philosophies vary widely: Europe is moving toward harmonization through MiCA, and the United States is shifting from a state-by-state patchwork to greater federal clarity through new legislation such as the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, along with a growing number of federal OCC licenses granted to crypto companies. These developments indicate a general shift towards adoption of the crypto market in the US. In contrast, many Latin American markets are shaped by high inflation, capital controls, and large unbanked populations. Those same conditions make stablecoins extremely attractive to users, but they also make regulators more cautious about payments, currency conversion, and access to dollars.

This creates a world in which innovation must be modular. You can’t build a single global flow and expect it to fit everywhere. Instead, you design core capabilities like on-ramp, off-ramp, swaps, and a stablecoin wallet, and let the regulatory layer dictate how each market can consume them.

An interesting trend is that emerging markets often look to established frameworks when shaping their own rules. The work we do to adapt to more stringent regimes, for example by adapting our flows to FCA expectations or upcoming MiCA requirements, often puts us at the forefront as new jurisdictions formalize their own standards.

The companies that will succeed are those that view licensing and regulatory readiness as strategic benefits rather than defensive liabilities. In this category, trust becomes a product feature.

Crypto infrastructure often balances between ease of use and user control. How can companies improve accessibility without sacrificing decentralization, privacy or transparency?

The misconception is that usability and user control are a trade-off. What users want is empowerment without vulnerability. They want self-control without the fear that a forgotten sentence will wipe out their savings. They want privacy without feeling like they are out of step with regulations. They want transparency when it matters, and simplicity when it doesn’t.

The answer lies in responsible abstraction. Allow users to store their assets instantly while removing the operational burden of key management, gas management and network selection. That’s the philosophy behind our wallet at Ramp Network: users stay in control, but the experience feels tailored to how modern finance works.

It is important to note that decentralization is not binary; it’s a spectrum. Different users want different degrees of autonomy. Some people like to manually manage keys and sign transactions manually. Others prefer recovery mechanisms, safety nets and clearer guardrails. The industry must recognize that offering options is not a compromise; it is a requirement for wider acceptance.

Ultimately, accessibility and decentralization can reinforce each other as companies focus on giving users control and removing unnecessary complexity. The sector will grow faster if we prioritize empowerment, clarity and safe defaults.

Disaster connects traditional financial rails with the crypto economy. From your perspective, what are the key technical and policy challenges in achieving seamless interoperability between these two systems?

Traditional finance and crypto are based on fundamentally different foundations. Conventional systems rely on intermediaries, daily cut-off times and slow settlement cycles. Crypto assumes that value should change instantaneously, 24/7, with programmable rules. Achieving true interoperability means aligning these two worldviews, not just merging APIs.

The real challenge is synchronizing everything that needs to happen around a transaction: identity checks, fraud prevention, liquidity, currency and on-chain settlement. Users expect this to feel immediate, but under the hood the systems behave very differently.

This is where companies like Ramp Network operate. We act as the coordination layer that absorbs complexity so that users and partners experience a seamless transfer of value instead of two disconnected systems. Done right, the distinction between fiat and digital assets will blur and people will interact with digital value in the same way they already interact with money.

As stablecoins, CBDCs and tokenized assets continue to gain traction, how do you see the role of on- and off-ramp providers evolving in the coming years?

On- and off-ramp providers are already a critical part of the financial infrastructure, but their role is expanding as more assets become digital. Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, real-world assets and even CBDCs will all need a trusted gateway that allows users to switch between different forms of value with a single account and a single verification.

The category is evolving from simple conversion tools to the connective tissue of the digital asset economy. That’s why we introduced swaps and a stablecoin wallet at Ramp Network. Users want options: buy an asset, move it on a chain, convert it later, or send it directly to someone they know. The companies that can provide these trips consistently and securely will become the default entry point to Web3.

What developments, technological, regulatory or cultural, do you think will have the most impact on the way people interact with digital assets in their daily financial lives, looking ahead to 2025 and beyond?

Three forces will shape adoption in the coming years: clarity, consolidation and convenience.

Clarity will come from regulations. It won’t be uniform globally, but clearer guardrails will legitimize stablecoins and digital asset services, giving both consumers and institutions the confidence to participate. When people understand what is safe, allowed and supervised, they use it more freely.

Consolidation will take place on the user side. We’re moving from a world of fragmented tools to integrated experiences where buying, exchanging, storing and shipping all happen in one place. There is already a generation that lives in digital wallets, both in the financial sector and in gaming. For them, managing digital value is intuitive. As experiences become easier, that behavior spreads to mainstream audiences.

And ease will come from better abstraction. People will stop thinking in terms of chains, gas tokens and bridges, and instead think in terms of outcomes: buying, moving, exchanging, cashing out. The underlying complexity will exist, but will no longer define the user journey.

I think adoption will accelerate as more companies engage directly with stablecoins. We are already seeing payment companies, banks and e-commerce platforms experimenting with settlement and payouts in digital dollars. As more people receive stablecoins for cross-border work or online trading, a meaningful portion will eventually go beyond conversion. They can trade for other assets, earn revenue, or try out new Web3 services. Exposure creates curiosity, and curiosity becomes participation.

Our goal at Ramp Network is to build the infrastructure that turns these results into everyday actions, bringing digital assets into the mainstream.

Disclaimer: The content shared in this interview is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendation or endorsement of any project, protocol or asset. The cryptocurrency space involves risk and volatility. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions. This interview was conducted in collaboration with Ramp Network, who generously shared their time and insights. The content has been mutually reviewed and approved for publication. Minor changes have been made for clarity and readability, while maintaining the content and tone of the original conversation.