Consensus of Major Global Investment Banks on Digital Currencies in 2026

Institutional Adoption Accelerates Significantly:
More pension funds, banks, and wealth management institutions are deeply involved through ETFs, custody, and direct holdings, driving demand for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others to surpass supply, ending the traditional “four-year cycle” and shifting toward structural growth.
Regulatory Environment Significantly Improves:
It is expected that the US will pass bipartisan-supported crypto market structure legislation (such as the Clarity Act), clarifying asset classification, exchange rules, and custody standards, promoting deep integration of traditional finance and blockchain, becoming a core catalyst for market rebound.
Stablecoins Dominate Payments and Settlements:
Stablecoins (such as USDC, USDT) are becoming the “Internet dollar,” widely used in cross-border payments, settlements, and corporate treasury, benefiting from clear regulations like the GENIUS Act, with issuance volumes continuously expanding.
Mainstreaming of Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization:
Traditional assets such as bonds, real estate, and stocks are being tokenized on-chain, enabling instant settlement and global liquidity, attracting trillions of dollars, and reshaping capital markets when combined with stablecoins.
Bitcoin and Other Major Assets Reach New Highs:
Optimistic that Bitcoin will break previous highs in 2026, with a forecast range of approximately $130,000 to $225,000 (some institutions like Bernstein target $150,000, Grayscale expects new highs in the first half of the year), with volatility gradually decreasing.
Active Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs:
Crypto companies are engaging in record-breaking M&A with traditional banks, and more mature companies are going public, driving the industry toward maturity.
Overall, investment banks see 2026 as a pivotal year for crypto moving from the fringe to mainstream financial infrastructure, with an optimistic tone but still requiring attention to macro interest rates and geopolitical risks. (Data from sources such as Grayscale, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bernstein, Silicon Valley Bank, Bitwise, etc.)