Monica Long, the President of Ripple, has outlined a transformative vision for the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the financial sector by 2026. She anticipates that institutional holdings of digital assets will exceed $1 trillion, with nearly half of Fortune 500 companies implementing formal digital asset strategies by the end of the year.
Long”s insights, shared on January 20, highlight four pivotal trends: the rise of stablecoins as the primary settlement infrastructure, increased institutional participation, consolidation of custody services, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with blockchain technology. According to her predictions, stablecoins will transition from being alternative payment systems to becoming the fundamental rails for global transactions.
Evidence of this shift is already visible, with major payment processors like Visa and Stripe beginning to incorporate stablecoin settlement capabilities into their existing systems. The dramatic growth in B2B stablecoin payments, which reached an annualized run-rate of $76 billion last year, underscores this trend. This surge is particularly significant given that monthly transaction volumes were below $100 million as recently as early 2023.
The driving force behind this change, as noted by Long, is the considerable amount of capital currently tied up in working capital—over $700 billion in the balance sheets of S&P 1500 companies and an additional €1.3 trillion in Europe. Stablecoins provide a solution by offering real-time liquidity and minimizing carrying costs, making them an attractive option for chief financial officers.
Long also highlights that a recent survey conducted by Coinbase revealed that 60% of Fortune 500 companies are actively pursuing blockchain initiatives. Additionally, the number of public companies holding bitcoin in their treasuries has increased significantly, with over 200 now participating in this trend. The cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) landscape is also evolving, with more than 40 crypto ETFs launched in 2025, which still represents only a small fraction—1-2%—of the total U.S. ETF market.
Looking ahead, Long expects approximately 5-10% of capital market settlements to transition to blockchain technology within the current year. This shift is likely to be propelled by the adoption of tokenization by custodian banks and clearinghouses. In terms of custody services, Long predicts that the consolidation wave in the crypto sector, which reached $8.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions in 2025, will continue, with more than half of the top 50 global banks expected to establish new custody relationships in 2026.
The convergence of AI and blockchain is another area of focus. Long envisions AI systems aiding real-time treasury management, automated margin calls, and dynamic portfolio rebalancing for tokenized assets. She believes that zero-knowledge proofs will play a crucial role, allowing AI to evaluate creditworthiness while keeping sensitive information private.
As regulations evolve, particularly with the introduction of the GENIUS Act aimed at creating a stablecoin framework in the U.S., the institutional infrastructure for digital assets is clearly taking shape. The pressing question is no longer whether traditional finance will adopt cryptocurrency mechanisms, but rather the pace at which this adoption will occur.
