- Fidelity research indicates 2025 was a year of behind-the-scenes institutional groundwork, rather than price excitement, setting the stage for broader financial integration.
- Major banks signalled serious intent to build digital asset capabilities throughout 2025 – such structural commitments tend to be decisive once made.
- Mainstream discourse has shifted markedly, with “Bitcoin is dead” narratives largely disappearing as crypto is increasingly recognised as a permanent asset class that will remain regardless of price volatility.
- Wealth managers and registered investment advisors face easing barriers to recommending crypto to clients, potentially unlocking substantial capital inflows and introducing more stable, institutionally-driven demand patterns.
Digital assets may have spent much of 2025 moving sideways on price charts, but beneath the surface, the industry was anything but stagnant. According to new research from Fidelity Digital Assets, the groundwork laid over the past year could set the stage for a far more visible shift in 2026 – one where crypto begins to function less like a speculative fringe and more like a core layer of global finance.
That view was reinforced by Chris Kuiper, who compared the current phase of digital assets to the early days of standardised shipping containers — an innovation that quietly reshaped global trade long before its impact was fully recognised.
“Digital assets are approaching their shipping container moment,” Kuiper said in a recent interview with CoinDesk. What looks incremental today, he argued, reflects years of slow, structural change.
Fidelity’s “2026 Look Ahead” report frames 2025 as a year of behind-the-scenes rebuilding. While prices failed to excite, institutions focused on plumbing: regulated investment products, custody solutions, compliance frameworks and internal workflows designed for long-term participation.
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Major banks and brokerages, Kuiper noted, spent the year signalling intent rather than chasing headlines.
“Every major bank announced last year that they intend to build some form of capability in digital assets,” he said, adding that progress in traditional finance is rarely immediate but often decisive.
Majority Believes Crypto Here to Stay
Another subtle milestone came with sentiment. For the first time, calls declaring Bitcoin “dead” largely disappeared from mainstream market discourse. Kuiper sees that shift as emblematic of growing acceptance – not enthusiasm, but resignation that the asset class is here to stay.
Crypto, in this view, is moving closer to capital markets through exchange-traded products, derivatives, tokenisation initiatives and clearer legal treatment.
Institutional investors remain central to that evolution. Fidelity expects demand to continue expanding through structured exposure, allowing firms to access returns without holding assets directly.
At the same time, BTC’s role as a strategic reserve asset is solidifying, with more companies adding it to balance sheets. Behind them sit pensions, endowments and foundations – traditionally conservative allocators whose lengthy approval processes are only now beginning to show cracks.
“The big pools of money […] they’ve got boards and long processes,” Kuiper said, pointing to high-profile endowment exposure as an early signal.
Barriers Are Crumbling Says Analyst
One of the least discussed, yet potentially most consequential, trends is unfolding among financial advisors. Barriers that once made it difficult for wealth managers and registered investment advisors to recommend crypto are gradually easing.
“Wealth managers and RIAs are going to offer crypto to more clients,” Kuiper said, a shift that could unlock trillions in capital over time and introduce steadier, less speculative demand.
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Fidelity’s research also flags emerging challenges, including quantum computing risks and the push toward quantum-resistant custody and infrastructure. On regulation, Kuiper suggested pending U.S. market structure legislation could act as a catalyst.
If that passes […] it will pave the way for traditional finance players […] to continue to build.
Chris KuiperRather than a sudden breakout, Fidelity expects 2026 to extend this pattern of integration. If a turning point arrives, it may be marked less by price spikes than by crypto finally fitting into place across the financial system.
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