Ripple Outlines Key Crypto Market Trends for 2026

• Stablecoins and tokenized assets are transitioning from pilot projects to core financial infrastructure.
• Banks and corporations are accelerating the adoption of digital assets in settlements, treasuries, and capital markets.
• The convergence of blockchain and AI will be a key factor in the automation of financial transactions.

In its new forecast for 2026, Ripple Labs stated that the crypto industry is entering a phase of institutional validation. In its opinion, previous technological and regulatory investments are beginning to have a systemic effect.

The company believes that firms, banks, corporations, and financial service providers are moving from experimentation to industrial use of digital assets. This will lay the foundation for the “internet of value,” the report says.

Ripple cites stablecoins as one of the key drivers.

The publication notes that in the coming years, they will be integrated into global payment systems not as an alternative but as their infrastructure layer. The adoption of the GENIUS law in the US and the growth of regulated dollar stablecoins are setting the standard for 24/7 programmable settlements.

At the same time, the main demand is shifting towards B2B payments, which have already reached tens of billions of dollars per year, according to the company. This category of transactions has pushed retail scenarios into the background, according to the report.

The second area of focus is the institutional use of crypto assets.

Ripple expects that by the end of 2026, corporate balance sheets will contain over $1 trillion in digital assets. At the same time, according to the firm, about half of the Fortune 500 companies will implement formal strategies for managing them.

This refers not only to Bitcoin but also to tokenized bonds, on-chain promissory notes, stablecoins, and programmable financial instruments. The growth in the number of crypto ETFs and the participation of banks should accelerate this process, according to the firm’s representatives.

Special attention is paid to the digital asset storage market. Ripple predicts large-scale consolidation as custody becomes a strategic element for banks and fintech companies.

Increased regulation and risk management requirements will push large financial groups to enter into new agreements, according to the publication. In addition, this will allegedly push financial institutions to acquire specialized players, which will strengthen the confidence of institutional investors.

The fourth structural shift is the convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence.

In 2026, according to Ripple, AI and smart contracts will jointly begin to automate liquidity management, transaction collateralization, and tokenized asset portfolios in real time. Confidential computing technologies, including zero-knowledge proofs, will play a key role in this process.

Together, these factors are shaping the crypto industry’s transition into a mature phase, the company’s report says.

As Ripple emphasized, the momentum now comes not from speculative demand, but from financial institutions building long-term strategies. The company believes that 2026 will go down in history as the moment when digital assets finally established themselves as the basic infrastructure of the global financial system.

As a reminder, we wrote that Ripple confirmed it had no plans for an IPO amid a stable financial position.