CoinShares Report 2026: From Speculation to Real Utility

The period when crypto assets were exclusively considered as speculative instruments has ended. According to the analysis of the European company CoinShares, founded in 2014, with over ( billion assets under management, the next year will be a turning point: the industry is finally shifting from the periphery to the mainstream, from ambitions to replace the financial system to its modernization.

New Reality: What Changed in 2025

Structural barriers have fallen. In the US, approved Bitcoin spot ETFs, lifted restrictions for pension funds, and the passage of the $6 GENIUS Act). The EU implemented MiCA—the most comprehensive legal framework for crypto in the world. Asia introduced Basel III requirements, creating a more harmonized regulatory group.

But the main thing: digital assets are no longer a separate reality. BlackRock launched BUIDL funds on Ethereum and Solana, JPMorgan Chase began offering tokenized deposits on Base, Shopify started accepting USDC. This is not just integration—it’s symbiosis.

Macroeconomic Context: A Fragile Balance

By 2026, the global economy expects a soft landing if all goes according to plan. Growth will be sluggish. Inflation is decreasing but slowly—trade barriers and supply chain restructuring keep pressure on prices. The Fed is expected to adopt cautious, gradual monetary policy easing, with the target rate possibly falling to 3%, but no rapid moves are anticipated.

In this environment, three possible scenarios for Bitcoin develop:

• Optimistic: soft landing + unexpected productivity jump → BTC over $150,000
• Base case: slow expansion → trading range of $110,000-$140,000
• Pessimistic: recession or stagflation → decline to $70,000-$100,000

Simultaneously, fundamental trends are maturing. The reserve role of the US dollar is weakening—its share in global foreign exchange reserves has fallen from 70% in 2000 to around 50%. Central banks of developing countries are diversifying portfolios, seeking alternatives. For Bitcoin, this creates structural support as a non-sovereign store of value.

Institutional Adoption: Steps, Not Leaps

2026 will be a year of visible but gradual progress. Major brokers will allow trading Bitcoin on their platforms, the first S&P 500 companies will publicly list crypto on their balance sheets, large custodial banks will officially offer services.

However, the reality must be understood: technical barriers have fallen, but procedures still move slowly. Asset managers are adapting to the new reality, pension funds are coordinating positions, compliance teams are developing protocols. This will be evolution, not revolution.

Stablecoins Are No Longer Marginal

The market has surpassed ( billion. Tether )USDT( holds 60%, Circle )USDC$300 —25%, but competition is heating up. PayPal, traditional payment systems—all seek participation, although network effects protect current leaders.

A real revolution is happening in usage methods. Visa and Mastercard can easily switch to settlements in stablecoins without changing user experience. JPMorgan Chat reports: corporate clients save up to 50% on currency operations and reduce settlement times from days to seconds. E-commerce platforms are launching pilots in Asia and Latin America.

But there is a catch. Stablecoin issuers profit from interest rate differentials: they issue stablecoins backed by US Treasury securities. If the Fed rate drops to 3%, they will need to issue an additional ( billion stablecoins just to maintain income. These are the same financial laws.

Tokenization of Real Assets: From Theory to Practice

At the beginning of 2025, the volume of tokenized assets was ) billion. Now—( billion. This is not just a numerical growth.

The fastest-growing sectors are tokenized private credit and US government bonds. Gold tokens have exceeded $1.3 billion. Key players—BlackRock BUIDL fund on Ethereum and JPMorgan JPMD on Base—already demonstrate scaled institutional demand.

This changes the nature of assets. Previously, tokens were marginal for speculators. Now, they are a way to access real cash flows directly. Hyperliquid generates a third of its income from derivatives trading, and 99% of this income goes to daily buybacks and distribution among token holders. Tokens are transforming into quasi-shares.

Smart Contract Platforms: Moving Around

Ethereum remains king. Layer-2 throughput increased from 200 TPS to 4800 TPS over a year. Spot ETF attracted ) billion. But competition is intensifying.

Solana demonstrates an alternative paradigm—a single-threaded architecture allowing it to process $887 billion in daily trading volume. The volume of stablecoins on the platform grew from $1.8 billion in January 2024 to $150 billion. BlackRock BUIDL expanded from $350 million to $13 million in a few months. Spot ETF attracted $400 million in net investments.

Next-generation chains follow—Sui, Aptos, Sei, Monad. Hyperliquid focuses solely on derivatives. However, the market remains fragmented, and EVM compatibility becomes a competitive advantage.

Mining Transforms into Something New

In 2025, public miners increased their hash rate by 110 EH/s. But the real transformation is not in numbers but in the business model.

Miners announced contracts worth ( billion in high-performance computing )HPC$12 . By the end of 2026, Bitcoin mining revenue will decline from 85% to less than 20% of total income, while HPC operations will provide 80-90% of margins.

The long-term logic is clear: specialized computing centers for AI, machine learning, data processing. Crypto is just the first profitable client. Mining has been constantly overcrowded, but HPC is the future.

Venture Capital: The Big Game Returns

In 2025, crypto venture funding reached $25 billion—more than the entire 2024 $250 $382 billion$650 . This is not just statistics—it’s a signal that institutional money considers crypto a legitimate sector.

Key deals: Polymarket received ( billion in strategic investments from ICE, Stripe Tempo—) billion, Kalshi—$188 billion. Main trends for 2026:

• RWA tokenization: SPAC from Securitize, Series A rounds—institutions move from talk to practice
• AI + crypto: AI agents, natural language interfaces for trading
• Retail investment platforms: decentralized angel investments like Echo and Legion
• Bitcoin infrastructure: Layer-2 and Lightning Network attract serious attention

Prediction Markets Have Moved Out of Niche

During the 2024 US elections, weekly volume on Polymarket exceeded ( million and remained high even after the elections. Importantly: its accuracy is confirmed—predictions with a 60% probability materialized in about 60% of cases, 80% in 77-82%.

ICE invested $165 billion in Polymarket—this is not a commercial deal, but recognition. Forecast: in 2026, weekly volume will exceed ) billion. Prediction markets are ceasing to be noise—they are becoming valuable informational infrastructure.

Remaining Risks

Corporate Bitcoin holdings have grown exponentially—from 266,000 BTC $20 2024$5 to 1,048,000 BTC $3 2025$800 , from $11.7 billion to $90.7 billion. MicroStrategy controls 61% of this volume, the top 10 companies—84%.

This creates concentration risk. If the current financing strategy—$2 constant debt raising$2 —encounters difficulties—if mNAV falls to 1x or refinancing becomes impossible—there will be a need to sell. This could trigger a wave of sales.

Meanwhile, the development of options markets (IBIT) has reduced Bitcoin volatility—an indicator of maturity but also risk. Lower volatility weakens demand for convertible bonds, affecting the purchasing power of corporate holders.

Conclusion: 2026 as a Turning Point

CoinShares’ report interpretation shows that the crypto industry is at a crossroads—not at the profit or speculation crossroads, but at the functionality crossroads.

Digital assets, blockchains, tokens are ceasing to be a separate reality parallel to traditional finance. They are woven into the fabric of the mainstream: stablecoins are used for settlements, tokenized assets generate income, prediction markets influence understanding of probabilities, mining is transforming into HPC.

Maturity comes not with a dramatic leap but with gradual, relentless adoption. 2026 will be a year of visible progress in this process, but progress that guarantees its unstoppable nature.