My speculation: perhaps he means that the potential energy tied up behind financial regulation is enormous, and that web3 is a practical way to tap into that.

My speculation: perhaps he means that the potential energy tied up behind financial regulation is enormous, and that web3 is a practical way to tap into that. (If I'm correct about his intended meaning, you're confused because he's being oblique. It would be clearer for him to say "the enormous payoff of impossible-to-regulate financial products".)