After years of volatility and experimentation, cryptocurrency is entering a new phase , integration. According to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), 2026 will mark the year digital assets shift from pilot programs and speculative trading into core financial infrastructure.

Anthony Vassallo, SVB’s senior vice president of crypto, says the industry is moving “from expectations to production,” as institutions embed blockchain technology into payments, custody, treasury management and capital markets.

Institutional Adoption Accelerates

Regulatory clarity improved significantly in 2025, reopening capital markets and encouraging institutional engagement. Venture funding in U.S. crypto companies rose 44% to $7.9 billion, even as deal counts fell , a sign that investors are writing larger checks into stronger, more mature firms.

Corporate adoption is also rising. At least 172 public companies held bitcoin in Q3 2025, collectively controlling roughly 5% of circulating supply.

Meanwhile, major financial institutions are expanding their digital asset services:

  • Custody solutions

  • Crypto-backed lending

  • Collateralized trading

  • Settlement infrastructure

Rather than experimenting, banks are scaling.

Stablecoins Become the “Internet’s Dollar”

SVB believes stablecoins are evolving into digital cash for enterprise use.

With near-instant settlement and lower transaction costs compared to traditional systems, dollar-backed tokens are increasingly used for:

  • Cross-border payments

  • Treasury management

  • B2B settlements

  • Collateral flows

Clearer regulations , including federal standards requiring 1:1 reserve backing and monthly disclosures , are accelerating enterprise adoption.

Investment in stablecoin-focused companies surged to over $1.5 billion in 2025, reflecting growing confidence in their long-term role.

M&A and Full-Stack Crypto Expansion

Crypto is also consolidating.

More than 140 venture-backed crypto firms were acquired in the past year, a 59% increase year-over-year. Exchanges, custodians and infrastructure providers are merging to build full-stack platforms capable of offering trading, custody, payments and lending under one umbrella.

Traditional financial institutions are also pursuing acquisitions rather than building products from scratch , a strategy aimed at competing with vertically integrated crypto-native firms.

Tokenization Goes Mainstream

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) , including cash, U.S. Treasuries and money-market instruments , exceeded $36 billion in 2025.

Asset managers are testing blockchain-based wrappers to reduce settlement times and lower costs. The convergence between public and private markets is accelerating, with blockchain increasingly serving as shared settlement rails.

SVB expects tokenization to expand beyond Treasuries into private markets and consumer-facing financial products.

The AI + Crypto Convergence

One of the most notable shifts is the integration of artificial intelligence into crypto applications.

In 2025:

  • 40% of crypto venture funding went to companies also building AI products.

Developers are building:

  • AI-powered wallets

  • Agent-to-agent payment protocols

  • Autonomous systems transacting in stablecoins

  • Blockchain-based verification tools to address AI trust challenges

The result may not look like “crypto apps.” Instead, next-generation fintech platforms may quietly operate on blockchain rails without explicitly branding themselves as crypto products.

From Speculation to Infrastructure

SVB’s core thesis is simple: crypto is no longer just about price cycles.

  • Pilot programs are scaling.

  • Institutional capital is consolidating.

  • Banks are entering the space.

  • Regulators are defining compliance frameworks.

Volatility will remain, but blockchain technology is increasingly becoming part of the financial plumbing , underpinning treasury operations, settlement systems and capital markets.

If 2024 was about recovery and 2025 about stabilization, SVB argues that 2026 is about integration.

Crypto, once considered an alternative experiment, is positioning itself as core infrastructure for the modern financial system.