From Disruption to Integration
CoinShares, the crypto asset manager, released its 2026 Digital Asset Outlook this week, and the message is pretty clear. Digital assets aren’t just some fringe experiment anymore. They’re becoming part of the financial system’s plumbing. Jean-Marie Mognetti, the CEO, put it directly: “Digital assets are no longer operating outside the traditional economy.” I think that’s a significant shift in perspective.
The report talks about this next phase as “hybrid finance”—basically, crypto infrastructure merging with traditional finance. It’s less about tearing things down and more about building connections. Maybe that’s the natural progression for any new technology. First, you disrupt. Then, you integrate.
Visible Integration Points
Where is this integration happening right now? The report points to stablecoins and tokenized assets. Private credit and U.S. Treasuries are leading the tokenization charge, with more tokenized funds and deposits on the way. Traditional financial institutions are launching their own stablecoins, which feels like a quiet admission that the technology works.
Bitcoin’s mainstreaming is another big piece. Over $90 billion has flowed into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. More than one million BTC sits on the balance sheets of 190 public companies. That’s not speculative trading—that’s treasury management. It’s becoming a standard asset class, perhaps faster than many expected.
The 2026 Outlook
For next year, CoinShares expects broader access through wealth platforms and retirement accounts. More direct institutional settlement from custody banks too. The competition to become the settlement layer for this hybrid system is heating up. Ethereum still holds the institutional anchor position, but other chains are gaining ground.
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, summarized it well: “2026 will be defined by a financial system quietly rearchitecting itself around public blockchains and digital settlement layers.” The quiet part is interesting—it suggests this isn’t about flashy announcements but actual infrastructure work.
Price Paths and Regulatory Divergence
The report outlines three potential Bitcoin price paths tied to macroeconomic conditions. A soft landing with productivity gains could push prices above $150,000. Steady but muted growth suggests $110,000 to $140,000. Stagflation or recession might hit prices in the near term before a rebound. These aren’t wild predictions—they’re tied to observable economic trends.
Regulatory approaches are diverging significantly. Europe has MiCA. The U.S. is evolving its stablecoin policy. Asia is taking a Basel-style approach. This patchwork creates complexity but also reflects different regional priorities.
Other structural shifts include miners moving into high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. Prediction markets are gaining mainstream relevance too. It feels like the ecosystem is maturing, finding practical applications beyond just trading.
The overall picture is one of convergence. Digital assets are becoming part of the financial fabric, not an alternative to it. Whether this is good or bad depends on your perspective, but it’s certainly happening.
