Traditional financial institutions are shedding skepticism towards cryptocurrencies, and this change will accelerate in 2026.
Banks, brokerages and exchanges are racing to offer crypto products as demand from individual investors, institutions and wealthy customers reaches a tipping point.
David Ripley, co-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, told Axios that “almost every traditional financial services company will be offering cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum to their customers.” He called this development “the big story of 2026.”
This tipping point reflects a broader collision of megatrends that are reshaping financial markets. Stablecoins, tokenization, AI, and long-duration trading are converging to create a more digital, more global, and increasingly 24-hour financial system.
Ripley said the rise of stablecoins (blockchain-based versions of traditional assets) has prepared investors for what comes next: tokenized public equities.
“The next big thing after tokenized stocks and tokenized assets is going to be public equities,” he said.
The stakes are high. Kraken recently announced plans to offer tokenized IPO shares to retail investors, targeting ordinary Americans who Ripley said were “totally shut out” from large wealth-creating companies until late in their growth cycles.
The IPO market itself is preparing for a historic wave. SpaceX is aiming to debut on the Nasdaq this week, aiming to raise about $75 billion at a valuation of $1.7 trillion, making it the largest IPO in history.
Nasdaq CFO Sarah Youngwood told Axios that the U.S. market has the depth to absorb multitrillion-dollar product pipelines such as OpenAI and Anthropic without structural changes.
Nasdaq is promoting long-duration trading, in line with the never-ending crypto market.
Coinbase Executive: Institutional Investors Are Buying
John D’Agostino, Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, said the comments come as Bitcoin is battling near $60,000, but large institutional investors are undeterred by Bitcoin’s 50% drop from its all-time high, with sovereign wealth funds, family offices and other large investors actively buying the bulls.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala has increased its exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF for the fourth consecutive quarter, but despite the market downturn, Bitcoin ETFs still hold around $100 billion in total assets.
D’Agostino attributed the decline to a combination of macroeconomic uncertainty, rising interest rates, regulatory delays, geopolitical tensions, and concerns raised by Strategy’s 32BTC sale. Still, he said financial institutions remain confident in Bitcoin’s long-term value, a view reinforced by Strategy’s subsequent purchase of 1,550 BTC for $101 million.
