Stablecoins, tokenized assets and custody will replace pilot programs as crypto moves into core businesses.
Ripple president Monica Long has said that about half of Fortune 500 companies will adopt formal crypto or digital asset treasury strategies by 2026, pointing to stablecoins, tokenized assets and custody as key areas of use.
She described crypto less as a commodity and more as a financial infrastructure that large companies are beginning to treat as part of routine operations.
Institutional crypto shift from pilots to production
Long shared her views in a series of posts about X published on January 20, in addition to a longer essay on Ripple’s website released the same day.
She argued that banks and companies are moving away from limited testing and into production use, especially for stablecoins used in settlement, on-chain assets and custody services. According to her, stablecoins are becoming increasingly embedded in payment flows as companies look for faster settlement and better liquidity management.
Long cited growing involvement from payment companies such as Visa and Stripe, which have integrated stablecoins into parts of their systems. She also pointed to changes in US regulations, including the passage of the GENIUS Act, as a factor that has given institutions clearer rules around dollar-backed crypto assets. Ripple’s own action in this area includes Ripple USD and the Office of the Comptroller of the Coin’s conditional approval to form a national trust bank.
In terms of corporate balance sheets, the Ripple executive said cryptocurrency exposure is expanding beyond just Bitcoin holdings. She expects companies will hold stablecoins, tokenized treasuries and other on-chain instruments as part of their structured treasury strategies.
A 2025 Coinbase survey found that 60% of Fortune 500 companies were already working on blockchain initiatives, while at the end of last year more than 200 publicly traded companies held BTC.
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ETFs, custody and consolidation to shape the next phase
Long’s comments come at a time when institutional access to crypto is increasing through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For example, Ethereum and Solana ETFs recorded record trading volumes in early January 2026, with sustained activity rather than short-term spikes.
Meanwhile, asset managers are also expanding their product lines, with Bitwise filing for eleven single-asset altcoin ETFs as of December 31, 2025, including DeFi tokens, layer 1 networks and AI-linked projects. These products align with Long’s view that while ETFs are only a small part of the broader market, they act as a gateway for institutions that need trusted structures.
She also linked adoption to changes in custody. Cryptocurrency mergers and acquisitions reached $8.6 billion in 2025, with custodial services gaining increasing attention as banks face pressure to spread risk across multiple providers.
Long expects that more than half of the world’s fifty largest banks will formalize new custody relationships by 2026. She also said that blockchain systems will increasingly interoperate with automation tools, allowing government bonds and asset managers to manage liquidity and collateral on a continuous basis.
While these predictions remain projections, they reflect a growing consensus among major crypto companies and investors that institutional use is now driving how the industry evolves.
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