Crypto asset management firm CoinShares said digital assets are moving from experimentation outside the system to the core layer of financial infrastructure as large institutions build on public blockchains.
In its 2026 Digital Asset Outlook published on Monday, the investment firm argues that the next stage will be defined by convergence rather than disruption, dubbing it “hybrid finance.” This is the fusion of virtual currency rails with traditional finance to create a new market pipeline.
“Digital assets are no longer operated outside the traditional economy,” said CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti, adding that “integration into the real economy” is likely to occur in 2026.
According to the report, this consolidation is becoming increasingly evident in the use of stablecoins and the growth of tokenized assets led by private credit and U.S. Treasuries, alongside the launch of more tokenized funds, tokenized deposits, and stablecoins by established companies.
The report also noted that Bitcoin's mainstreaming is accelerating, with inflows into U.S. spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) exceeding $90 billion, and the corporate treasuries of 190 listed companies holding more than 1 million bits.
Looking ahead to 2026, asset managers expect to see increased access through asset platforms and retirement accounts, as well as increased institutional payments directly from custodian banks.
The firm sees three price paths for Bitcoin related to the macro context. If there is a soft landing due to increased productivity, Bitcoin could reach over $150,000. Steady but subdued growth means $110,000 to $140,000. And stagflation or recession can hurt prices in the short term before rebounding.
The report argues that competition to become the payment layer for hybrid finance is intensifying and that Ethereum remains the institutional anchor even as rivals gain strength.
“2026 will be defined by the covert restructuring of the financial system around public blockchains and digital payment layers,” said James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.
The report also highlights growing regulatory divergence, from Europe's MiCA framework to evolving US stablecoin policies to Asia's Basel-style approaches, and warns of structural changes, including miners moving to HPC and AI infrastructure and prediction markets becoming mainstream.
read more: Diversification, not hype, drives digital asset investment: Signum
