Last year, the institutional foundations of cryptocurrencies were restored. According to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), this is the year of further integration into the financial system.
In 2025, regulatory clarity improved, institutional engagement accelerated, and capital markets reopened. The focus is now shifting from price cycles to infrastructure as digital assets become more deeply embedded in payments, custody, treasury management, and capital markets.
“Whether tangible or visible, all the forces shaping cryptocurrencies today have one thing in common: cryptocurrencies are moving from expectation to production. Pilot programs are expanding and capital is consolidating,” Anthony Vassallo, SVB’s senior vice president of cryptocurrencies, told CoinDesk in an interview.
The bank, which maintains more than 500 relationships with crypto companies and ventures investing in the sector, says institutional investors, consolidation, stablecoins, tokenization and AI are converging to reshape the way money moves.
Following its bankruptcy in 2023, SVB was acquired by North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank and now operates within the top 20 banks in the United States with $230 billion in assets. In 2025, the number of customers increased by 2,100, and at the end of the year, the total customer funds were $108 billion and the amount of loans was $44 billion.
More confidence with fewer experiments
According to the bank’s 2026 outlook report, “the suit and tie has arrived.”
Venture funding for U.S. crypto companies rose 44% last year to $7.9 billion, according to PitchBook data cited by SVB. Although the number of deals fell, the median check size rose to $5 million as investors focused their money on stronger teams. Seed valuations have increased by 70% from 2023 levels.
The bank warns that demand for institutional cryptocurrency companies could outstrip the number of companies available for investment.
“In 2026, conditions are ripe for continued growth in VC investment in cryptocurrencies. As adoption by institutional investors accelerates and venture capital vetting becomes more extensive, we expect investors to prioritize succession to higher quality projects and proven teams, and capital to continue to be concentrated in fewer companies,” Vassallo said.
“The result will be a more seamless experience for end users across their everyday financial transactions, from cross-border transfers to managing investment portfolios.”
Corporate balance sheets are reinforcing that shift. At least 172 publicly traded companies hold Bitcoin BTC$68,317.76 According to data seen by SVB, in the third quarter of 2025 it will increase by 40% from the second quarter, and in total will control about 5% of the circulating supply.
A new class of digital asset treasury companies has emerged: companies that treat cryptocurrency accumulation as a core strategy. The bank expects consolidation to occur as standards tighten and volatility tests business models.
Meanwhile, traditional banks are moving deeper into this space. JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, plans to accept Bitcoin and Ether Ethereum$1,968.69 Bloomberg reported last year that it was offered as collateral. SoFi Technologies provides direct trading of digital assets. US Bank provides storage through NYDIG. SVB expects more financial institutions to roll out lending, custody and payment products as compliance guardrails become stronger.
M&A and the race to full-stack cryptocurrencies
Why build one when you can buy one?
More than 140 venture capital-backed crypto companies were acquired in the four quarters ending in September, up 59% from a year earlier, according to the bank’s analysis of PitchBook data. Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit and Kraken’s $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader highlight its scale.
This trend extends to bank establishment as well. In 2025, 18 companies applied for approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), most of which were blockchain-enabled companies. The OCC granted conditional approval to trust banks specializing in digital assets, 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 is a turning point. This means that stablecoins and custody infrastructure will move within the federal bank boundaries. The bank hopes traditional financial institutions will accelerate transactions rather than risk being disrupted by vertically integrated crypto-native rivals.
“We expect M&A to set another record in 2026, as a function of digital assets.
“When it comes to financial services stakeholders, companies will focus on acquisition strategies rather than building products from scratch,” says Vassallo.
“Exchanges, custodians, infrastructure providers, and brokerages will consolidate into multi-product companies to meet market demands, from stablecoin capabilities to full-stack crypto banks,” he said.
Stablecoins will become the “dollar of the internet”
According to SVB, stablecoins are evolving from transaction tools to digital cash.
With near-instant payments and lower transaction costs than ACH and card networks, dollar-backed tokens are attractive for treasury operations, cross-border payments, and business-to-business payments.
Introduction is accelerating due to clarification of regulations. The US GENIUS Act, passed in July, established federal standards for stablecoin issuance, including 1:1 reserve backing and monthly disclosure. Similar frameworks are in place in the EU, UK, Singapore and UAE.
Starting in 2027, only accredited entities such as banks and approved non-banks will be allowed to issue compliant stablecoins in the US. SVB expects issuers to spend 2026 aligning their products with federal oversight.
Banks are already experimenting. Societe Generale has introduced a Euro stablecoin. JP Morgan extends JPM Coin to public blockchain. Groups including PNC, Citi, and Wells Fargo are exploring joint token initiatives.
Venture investment continues. According to SVB, investments in stablecoin-focused companies have soared from less than $50 million in 2019 to more than $1.5 billion in 2025.
The bank expects tokenized dollars to migrate into core corporate systems in 2026, incorporating them into treasury workflows, collateral management, and programmable payments.
Tokenization and AI
The tokenization of real-world assets is growing. On-chain representation of cash, government bonds 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 of dollars in assets and are 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) currently tokenizes stock exposure for users in Europe and plans to expand into the US.
SVB believes that private and public markets will converge on shared payment rails and tokenization will expand beyond U.S. Treasuries to private markets and consumer applications.
Next is fusion with AI. According to SVB analysis, 40 cents of venture capital invested in cryptocurrencies will go to companies developing AI products in 2025, up from 18 cents a year ago. Startups are building agent-to-agent commerce protocols, and major blockchains are integrating AI into wallets.
Autonomous agents that can transact in stablecoins could allow machines to negotiate and settle payments without human intervention. Blockchain-based provenance and verification tools are being developed to address the lack of trust in AI.
The impact on consumers may be subtle. SVB predicts that next year’s breakout apps will not brand themselves as cryptocurrencies. These look like fintech products with stablecoin payments, tokenized assets, and AI agents working silently in the background.
From expectations to infrastructure
Silicon Valley Bank’s overarching message is to treat cryptocurrencies as infrastructure.
The pilot program is expanding. Capital is concentrated. Banks are also getting involved. Regulators define boundaries. Blockchain technology is poised to underpin treasury operations, collateral flows, cross-border payments, and parts of capital markets.
Volatility will remain and headlines will continue to move prices. But the deeper story, Banks insists, is about plumbing.
“In 2025, the momentum of on-chain representation of cash, government bonds, and short-term financial instruments will bring real-world assets into the financial mainstream,” Vassallo said. “This year, virtual currencies will be treated as infrastructure.”
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