Digital assets are quietly but inexorably moving from niche experimentation to structural financial layer, and 2026 may be the year the broader market finally takes notice.
This is the view of Fidelity Digital Assets, whose recent 2026 Looking Ahead research report found that digital assets are undergoing a fundamental transformation similar to that previously seen in global trade, a point highlighted by Chris Kuiper, vice president of research at Fidelity, in a recent interview with CoinDesk.
“Digital assets are approaching a shipping container moment,” Kuiper told CoinDesk. This is an analogy borrowed from Mark Levinson’s book The Box, which describes how simple, standardized metal containers revolutionized global trade by reshaping ports, logistics, and supply chains. What seemed commonplace in retrospect was decades in the making. The same thing is happening now in the financial sector, he said.
Behind the Scenes: Restructuring the Financial Industry
While 2025 looked flat on the price charts, Fidelity research shows the industry is quietly reshaping its infrastructure, regulatory framework, and institutional workflows, laying the groundwork for a breakout year in 2026. Much of this evolution is happening behind the scenes through regulated products, storage solutions, and institutional strategies.
Kuiper agreed, noting that in 2025, major banks and brokerages will make a series of announcements that demonstrate a serious commitment to building digital asset capabilities. “Every major bank announced last year their intention to build some form of functionality into digital assets,” he said.
“It’s going to take a long time, and the results won’t be immediate,” Kuiper said, but what’s clear to him is that “this situation isn’t going away.”
From skepticism to acceptance
One of the subtle but important changes of the past year has been a cultural shift. 2025 was the first year in history that market participants stopped declaring Bitcoin “dead.” Kuiper sees this as a symbol of broader acceptance, of the technology moving from fringe speculation to an envisioned future.
Digital assets are inching closer to integration with capital markets through exchange-traded products (ETPs), derivatives, tokenization, and the evolution of legal frameworks that make them accessible to a broader investor base.
Tokenization is the process of converting real-world assets into blockchain-based tokens.
Institutional demand: from synthetic exposures to strategic reserves
In Kuiper’s view, educational institutions will continue to drive this evolution. Fidelity expects to expand the ways in which companies can participate in digital asset returns through synthetic exposures, i.e. derivatives and structured products, without diminishing Bitcoin’s traditional appeal as a reserve asset.
Strategic companies are likely to continue building up their Bitcoin reserves, while more conservative corporate treasuries will take serious steps into the space, the asset manager predicts. And behind these decisions are slow-moving but powerful capital allocators, some traditionally cautious segments such as pensions, endowments, and foundations, who have recently opened their doors to crypto allocations.
“Large funds, pensions and endowments have boards of directors and long processes to get approval,” he said. But cracks are starting to show. Harvard University’s endowment, which made headlines last year for its exposure to digital assets, may be just the beginning.
Wealth Managers, RIAs, and Retail Frontiers
Kuiper sees a quiet but potentially large trend emerging in the advisory ecosystem. While many U.S. financial advisors are technically able to offer Bitcoin and other digital assets to their clients, the process is cumbersome and filled with difficulties and risk tolerance hurdles. That is changing.
“Wealth managers and RIAs will offer cryptocurrencies to more and more of their clients,” Kuiper said. He added that tens of trillions of dollars are being advised across RIAs and wire services, representing a structural change that few are accurately pricing in, even if it is implemented slowly over several years.
“One of the most underappreciated drivers of growth in this space is the continued adoption of crypto products by retail financial advisors (through ETPs and direct holdings). This multi-year trend is worth tens of trillions of dollars and could impact the investment landscape for years to come.”
This shift is important because advisors’ steady allocations to Bitcoin and other assets create a consistent bid in the market, creating a demand floor that is fundamentally different from the wild, sentiment-driven cycles of the past. It’s not immediate, but it’s permanent.
Quantum concerns and innovation
Fidelity’s research also touches on emerging technological issues that could shape 2026: the potential impact of quantum computing on cryptographic security and the rise of “quantum-enabled” solutions in storage and infrastructure. While new blockchain layers and tokens are already positioned as quantum-resistant, administrators are preparing to stay ahead of evolving security needs.
Regulation as a catalyst?
On the regulatory front, Mr. Kuiper warned of ongoing U.S. market structure legislation that could be critical to system integration. “If this passes, in my opinion, it would pave the way for traditional financial players and intermediaries to get the green light to continue building,” he said, potentially facilitating a bridge between crypto and legacy markets.
Looking to the future: Build more, not just bullish
What should the market expect in 2026? Kuiper’s answer is not fireworks, but rather foundation building.
“In fact, 2026 could follow a similar trajectory to 2025, with digital assets continuing to integrate into the traditional financial system. Continued regulatory clarity could accelerate momentum, paving the way for continued institutional participation, and over time, capital from pensions, endowments, and foundations could steadily enter the digital asset space as regulatory barriers evolve,” he said.
This is consistent with Fidelity’s research view that although prices ended flat in 2025, structural tailwinds from pension allocation to regulatory transparency and deeper market infrastructure suggest digital assets may be poised to hit new all-time highs next year.
If Bitcoin’s shipping container moment arrives, it will not be because of a sudden price explosion, but because the entire financial ecosystem that has been in the making for so long will finally click into place.
read more: B. Riley says digital assets will move from speculation to infrastructure in 2026s
