Last year, the institutional foundation of cryptocurrency was restored. This year, according to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), it will be more integrated into the financial system.
Regulatory clarity has improved in 2025, institutional engagement has accelerated and capital markets have reopened. The focus is now shifting from price cycles to infrastructure, as digital assets are increasingly integrated into payments, custody, treasury management and capital markets.
“Whether tangible or visible, all the forces shaping crypto today share a common thread: crypto is moving from expectations to production. Pilot programs are evolving and capital is consolidating,” Anthony Vassallo, senior vice president of crypto at SVB, told CoinDesk in an interview.
The bank, which has more than 500 relationships with crypto companies and venture capital firms investing in the sector, says institutional capital, consolidation, stablecoins, tokenization and AI are converging to reshape the way money moves.
After its collapse in 2023, SVB was acquired by North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank and now operates as part of a top 20 U.S. bank with $230 billion in assets. In 2025, it added 2,100 customers and ended the year with $108 billion in total customer funds and $44 billion in loans.
Fewer experiences, more conviction
“The suits and ties have arrived,” according to the bank’s 2026 outlook report.
Venture capital funding in US crypto companies increased 44% last year to $7.9 billion, according to PitchBook data cited by SVB. While the number of deals has declined, the median check size has climbed to $5 million as investors concentrate their capital into stronger teams. Seed valuations have jumped 70% from 2023 levels.
The bank warns that demand for institutional-grade crypto companies could outstrip the number of companies to invest in.
“In 2026, conditions are ripe for continued growth in crypto venture capital investments. As institutional adoption accelerates, leading to greater venture capital controls, we expect to see a continued concentration of capital in fewer companies, with investors prioritizing higher quality projects and follow-ups in proven teams,” Vassallo said.
“For end users, the result will be a smoother experience in everyday financial interactions, from sending cross-border payments to managing an investment portfolio. »
Corporate balance sheets reinforce this change. At least 172 public companies held Bitcoin in the third quarter of 2025, up 40% from the second, collectively controlling around 5% of circulating supply, according to data referenced by SVB.
A new class of digital asset treasury companies, companies that treat crypto accumulation as a core strategy, has emerged. The bank expects consolidation as standards tighten and volatility tests business models.
Meanwhile, traditional banks are moving further into the sector. JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, plans to accept Bitcoin and Ether as collateral, Bloomberg reported last year. SoFi Technologies offers direct trading of digital assets. The American bank provides custody via NYDIG. SVB expects more institutions to deploy lending, custody and settlement products as compliance guardrails solidify.
M&A and the race for full-stack crypto
Why build when you can buy?
More than 140 venture-backed crypto companies were acquired in the four quarters ending in September, a 59% year-over-year jump, according to the bank’s analysis of PitchBook data. Coinbase’s acquisition of Deribit for $2.9 billion and Kraken’s purchase of NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion highlighted the scale of this.
The trend extends to bank charters. In 2025, 18 companies have applied for a charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), most of them blockchain-enabled companies. The OCC granted conditional approval to digital asset-focused trust banks, including custody provider BitGo (BTGO), Circle Internet (CRCL), the company behind the second-largest stablecoin, trading platform Fidelity Digital Assets, stablecoin issuer Paxos and payment network Ripple.
For SVB, this marks a turning point: the stablecoin and custody infrastructure is moving within the federal banking perimeter. The bank expects traditional financial institutions to accelerate deal-making rather than risk being disrupted by vertically integrated crypto-native rivals.
“We expect mergers and acquisitions to set a record again in 2026. As digital asset capabilities expand
becoming table stakes for financial services, companies will focus on acquisition strategies instead of building products from scratch,” says Vassallo.
“To meet market demands ranging from stablecoin capabilities to full crypto banks, exchanges, custodians, infrastructure providers and brokerages will consolidate into multi-product companies,” he said.
Stablecoins become the “Internet dollar”
Stablecoins, SVB said, are evolving from trading tools to digital money.
With near-instant settlement and lower transaction costs than ACH interbank transfer system or card networks, dollar-backed tokens are attractive for treasury operations, cross-border payments, and business-to-business settlements.
Regulatory clarity accelerates its adoption. The US GENIUS Act, passed in July, established federal standards for the issuance of stablecoins, including 1:1 reserve backing and monthly disclosures. Similar frameworks are in place in the EU, UK, Singapore and the UAE.
Starting in 2027, only authorized entities such as banks or licensed non-bank institutions will be allowed to issue U.S.-compliant stablecoins. SVB expects issuers to spend 2026 aligning their products with federal oversight.
Banks are already experimenting. Société Générale has introduced a euro stablecoin. JPMorgan has expanded JPM Coin to public blockchains. A group including PNC, Citi and Wells Fargo is exploring a joint symbolic initiative.
Venture capital dollars follow. Investments in stablecoin-focused businesses soared to more than $1.5 billion in 2025, up from less than $50 million in 2019, according to SVB.
By 2026, the bank expects tokenized dollars to be integrated into core enterprise systems, integrated with cash flow, collateral management and programmable payments.
Tokenization and AI
The tokenization of real-world assets is evolving. On-chain representations of cash, treasury bills and money market instruments exceeded $36 billion in 2025, according to data cited by the bank.
Funds from BlackRock (BLK) and Franklin Templeton have amassed hundreds of millions in assets, settling flows directly on-chain. ETF issuers and asset managers are testing blockchain-based wrappers to reduce transfer costs and enable intraday settlement. Robinhood (HOOD) has now tokenized stock exposure for European users and plans expansion in the United States.
SVB sees private and public markets converging on shared settlement rails, with tokenization expanding beyond Treasuries to private markets and consumer-facing applications.
Then there is the convergence with AI. In 2025, 40 cents of every risk dollar invested in crypto went to companies also developing AI products, up from 18 cents the year before, according to SVB’s analysis. Startups are creating agent-to-agent trading protocols and major blockchains are integrating AI into wallets.
Autonomous agents capable of transacting stablecoins could enable machines to trade and settle payments without human intervention. Blockchain-based provenance and verification tools are being developed to address the AI trust gap.
The impact on the consumer can be subtle. SVB predicts that next year’s flagship apps will not present themselves as crypto. They will resemble fintech products, with stablecoin settlement, tokenized assets, and AI agents running silently in the background.
From waiting to infrastructure
Silicon Valley Bank’s main message is to treat crypto like infrastructure.
Pilot programs are evolving. Capital is concentrated. The banks are entering. Regulators define the perimeter. Blockchain technology is poised to support treasury operations, collateral flows, cross-border payments and part of capital markets.
Volatility will persist and headlines will continue to drive prices. But the deeper story, according to the bank, concerns plumbing.
“By 2025, the momentum of on-chain representations of cash, treasuries, and money market instruments has propelled real-world assets into the financial mainstream,” Vassallo said. “This year, cryptocurrency will be treated as infrastructure.”
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