Over the last few years, leaders across the crypto industry have laid the technical and regulatory groundwork necessary for long-term adoption. In 2026, that investment is set to pay off as trusted digital asset infrastructure and expanded utility spur institutional demand, leading more banks, corporates and providers to move from pilot phases into full-scale production.
This shift will play out across four key areas: stablecoins, onchain assets, crypto custody and automation through AI. Each will help drive a deeper integration of blockchain and digital assets into the global financial system.
Here are the major turning points that I predict will drive institutional adoption in 2026, with long-term implications for the Internet of Value.
1. Stablecoins: The Default for Global Settlement
Within the next five years, stablecoins will become fully integrated into global payment systems—not as an alternative rail, but as the foundational one. We’re seeing this shift not in theory, but in practice, as heavyweights like Visa and Stripe hard-wire these rails into incumbent flows.
In the U.S., the passage of the GENIUS Act has officially inaugurated the digital dollar era. Highly compliant, U.S.-issued stablecoins — including Ripple USD (RLUSD) — will become the gold standard for programmable, 24/7 global payments and serve as a critical source of collateral in modern financial markets. With our recent conditional approval from the OCC to charter the Ripple National Trust Bank, we aren’t just following the rules; we are setting the precedent for institutional compliance.
By 2027, I fully expect financial institutions to tap into the power of regulated stablecoins for 24/7 collateral mobility in capital markets use cases. While retail use cases for stablecoins exist, the real growth engine is B2B. Research shows that last year, B2B payments became the largest real-world use case for stablecoins, reaching an annualized run-rate of $76 billion. That’s a dramatic jump from early 2023, when monthly B2B stablecoin transfers sat below $100 million.
The opportunity here goes far beyond faster settlement. Companies are sitting on unprecedented amounts of trapped working capital—over $700 billion sitting idle on S&P 1500 balance sheets alone, and more than €1.3 trillion across Europe. Stablecoins unlock a path to real-time liquidity, reduced carrying costs and meaningful cash-flow efficiency. That combination is why corporates will drive the next wave of crypto adoption.
2. Institutional Crypto Exposure Goes Mainstream
Crypto has evolved from a speculative asset into the operating layer of modern finance. By the end of 2026, balance sheets will hold over $1 trillion in digital assets, and roughly half of Fortune 500 companies will have formalized digital asset strategies. And not just crypto exposure, but active participation across tokenized assets, digital asset treasuries, stablecoins, onchain T-bills and programmable financial instruments.
The data already points in that direction. A 2025 Coinbase survey found that 60% of Fortune 500 companies are actively working on blockchain initiatives. More than 200 public companies now hold bitcoin as part of their treasury strategy. And digital asset treasury (DAT) companies have grown from just four in 2020 to over 200 today, with nearly 100 formed in 2025 alone.
Meanwhile, the ETF market is opening the floodgates. More than 40 crypto ETFs were launched in 2025, yet collectively they still represent just 1–2% of the total U.S. ETF market. That gap underscores how much opportunity there is for institutional participation to grow.
As crypto exposure becomes normalized, capital markets will follow. In 2026, collateral mobility will emerge as a top institutional use case, with custodian banks and clearing houses adopting tokenization to modernize settlement. Expect 5–10% of capital markets settlement to move onchain, driven by regulatory momentum and the adoption of stablecoins by systemically important institutions.
3. The Great Custody Consolidation
M&A activity in this space is a signal of maturity, not just momentum. In 2025, crypto M&A reached $8.6 billion, fueled largely by institutional participation. Digital asset custody will drive the next phase of this consolidation as banks, service providers and crypto companies all look to custody as an accelerant for their blockchain strategies.
We’re already seeing a clear pattern emerge. Custody is becoming increasingly commoditized, pushing standalone providers to either diversify or integrate driving greater vertical integration. At the same time, regulatory requirements are forcing banks to adopt multi-custodian strategies to manage risk. In response, I expect more than half of the world’s top 50 banks to formalize at least one new custody relationship in 2026.
But industry M&A activity encompasses more than just crypto-native acquisitions. This past year saw crypto make meaningful moves into traditional finance and fintech, like with Kraken’s purchase of NinjaTrader and our acquisitions of GTreasury and Hidden Road.
Onboarding the next billion users — especially institutions — requires making crypto radically easier to use, safer to adopt and deeply integrated into existing financial workflows.
4. The Convergence of Blockchain and AI
The most powerful transformations in finance rarely happen in isolation. In 2026, blockchain and AI will increasingly converge, automating financial operations in ways that were previously impossible.
Stablecoins and smart contracts will enable treasuries to manage liquidity, execute margin calls and optimize yield across onchain repo agreements, all in real-time without manual intervention. Asset managers will use AI models alongside blockchain infrastructure to dynamically rebalance exposure to tokenized assets and stablecoin yield protocols, fully leveraging the 24/7 nature of onchain markets.
Privacy will be key to this expansion. Zero-knowledge proofs will allow AI systems to assess creditworthiness or risk profiles without exposing sensitive data, reducing friction in lending and unlocking broader adoption of digital assets across regulated markets.
The intersection of these two revolutionary technologies will unlock greater efficiency and give teams access to tools that operate at internet speed.
A Defining Year for Institutional Crypto
The industry has leveled up. And this time, the momentum is being driven by finance leaders that are building for the long term.
Stablecoins will power global settlement. Tokenized assets will sit on institutional balance sheets. Custody will anchor trust. And blockchain — increasingly paired with AI — will automate operations that today hold markets back.
Ultimately, 2026 will be remembered as the year crypto became foundational to the world’s financial infrastructure.
