From Launch to Scale: What Digital Asset Businesses Need to Grow – FinTech On the Seas 2026

As the digital asset sector matures, the qualities that define success are changing. Product innovation and speed to market remain important, but long-term growth increasingly depends on governance, regulatory readiness and operating discipline. These were central themes during the panel session, From Launch to Scale: What Digital Asset Businesses Need to Grow, where JTC’s Amardeep Thandi, Head of Digital Assets, shared his perspective on what will define the next generation of successful digital asset businesses.

As Amardeep noted during the discussion, “One of the biggest shifts we are seeing in digital assets is that the conversation is moving from innovation alone to institutionalisation. In the early years, the market rewarded speed, disruption and product launch. In the next phase, it will reward businesses that can scale with trust, structure and credibility.”

That shift reflects a simple reality: launching and scaling are fundamentally different disciplines. Many digital asset businesses are highly effective at product development, technical execution and early market traction. Scaling sustainably, however, requires something more. It requires the governance, regulatory readiness and operational discipline that allow a business to move from entrepreneurial venture to institutional platform.

Amardeep stated, “Launching is a product challenge; scaling is a trust challenge.” He added, “Code may launch the product, but governance allows it to scale.”

A key theme emerging from the panel was that, as digital asset businesses scale, the nature of the questions surrounding them changes materially. The focus moves beyond product development and launch execution to broader considerations such as treasury governance, decision-making frameworks, cross-jurisdictional risk management and whether the overall control environment is sufficiently robust to support sustainable long-term growth. In many cases, the challenge is not the strength of the underlying product, but whether the surrounding legal, governance and fiduciary architecture is mature enough to support scale.

Regulatory readiness was also highlighted as a core part of that journey. Rather than being treated as a late-stage exercise, it should be considered early through the foundational decisions a business makes around entity structure, token design, treasury control, customer flows and jurisdictional footprint. As discussed during the session, these are not simply legal questions. They are strategic choices that shape how a business grows, how it is perceived and how confidently it can operate as it matures. Amardeep commented, “Regulatory readiness is not the opposite of innovation; it is often what makes innovation investable.” 

The panel also explored how investor expectations have evolved. The conversation is no longer centred only on narrative, momentum or speed to market. Increasingly, investors want to understand whether a business has credible governance, coherent structuring, durable economics and the internal discipline to withstand pressure as it grows. As Amardeep explained, investors are now “underwriting durability, not just upside.”

That same shift is influencing how institutional partners, customers and service providers assess digital asset businesses. Governance, risk management and internal controls are no longer viewed as secondary considerations. They are fundamental to whether a business can build trust and operate at scale. As Amardeep said during the panel, “Governance is trust infrastructure.”

This is also where jurisdictions such as the BVI have an important role to play. For digital asset businesses moving from launch to scale, the most valuable jurisdictions will be those that offer more than speed or simplicity at the point of setup. They will be the jurisdictions that combine flexibility with credible legal architecture, experienced service providers, governance support and workable pathways for growth. That wider ecosystem becomes increasingly important as businesses mature, take on more stakeholders and operate across more complex structures. As Amardeep noted, “The winning jurisdictions will be those that help innovation mature.”

For the BVI, that is a particularly compelling aspect of the opportunity. Its strength lies not only in supporting innovation at the point of launch, but in enabling digital asset businesses to scale through corporate flexibility, credible governance structures and clear operating frameworks.

This is closely aligned with the role of JTC Special Situations in the digital assets space. We support clients in establishing the governance, structuring and operational frameworks required to move from early-stage development to sustainable long-term growth within credible international jurisdictions such as the BVI.