Crypto exchanges are quietly transforming into the pipes through which the next generation of crypto services flow — from trading and payments to on‑chain apps and yield products — according to a new report from research firm Delphi Digital. What started as marketplaces for tokens is evolving into user‑facing distribution layers, and the firms that control the primary interface could shape how the next hundred million people enter crypto. Delphi dubs this shift the “aggregation era.” The firm argues that power is migrating away from base protocols and toward whoever owns the user relationship — the place where people first log in, move money, and discover products. In practice that means exchanges and large platforms are racing to become the default gateway: the app that bundles liquidity, order flow, stablecoins, staking, NFTs, gaming and more. Binance is held up as the most obvious example of a monolithic “super app” approach. Delphi likens the exchange to WeChat’s “one interface, infinite utility” model: what began as a trading venue has steadily absorbed adjacent behavior — spot and derivatives markets, Earn products, lending and staking, payments via Binance Pay, a Web3 wallet and institutional services — all inside one dense interface. (Binance’s ongoing push into tokenized equities and other product lines underscores that ambition.) By contrast, Delphi portrays Kraken as pursuing a federated “constellation” strategy. Rather than forcing every user into one crowded app, Kraken is unbundling user interfaces while rebundling everything behind the scenes on a shared spine of liquidity, custody and identity. The company’s specialist front ends include Inky, an entertainment‑first memecoin app; Krak, focused on remittances and payments with stablecoins and yield; and Kraken Pro, aimed at deep‑chart trading. The result: multiple tailored UXs that still run on a single distribution rail. Other major platforms are heading toward similar roles even if they avoid the “super app” label. Coinbase is expanding its smart wallets, on‑chain discovery, staking and payments to position itself as a regulated, consumer‑friendly hub for both trading and Web3 access. OKX, Bybit and others are marrying centralized trading with in‑app Web3 wallets, NFT marketplaces and DeFi gateways, effectively wrapping on‑chain rails around their existing user bases. Beneath these feature launches lies a deeper strategic battle: who controls discovery for third‑party apps and protocols, and how regulators will classify these platforms. A single, all‑in‑one super app centralizes convenience — and regulatory exposure — in one place. A federated, multi‑app model diffuses front‑end risk while keeping control of the underlying plumbing. Which architecture wins will heavily influence who becomes crypto’s default distribution layer in the next cycle, and under what rules the next wave of mainstream users arrives. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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