Ripple President Monica Long projects that approximately 50% of Fortune 500 companies will maintain crypto exposure by the end of 2026, implementing formal strategies that include tokenized assets, onchain Treasury bills, stablecoins, and programmable financial instruments.
“After one of crypto’s most exciting years (and Ripple’s), the industry is entering its production era,” Long said via her official X account. “In 2026, we’ll see the institutionalization of crypto.”
According to Long, 2026 marks a true inflection point for institutional adoption and the broader expansion of the Internet of Value, as she highlighted in her predictions for the year ahead.
On stablecoins, Long said they would become “the foundation for global settlement, not an alternative rail,” citing integration by Visa, Stripe, and other major institutions into payment flows. She identified B2B as the growth engine, with corporates using digital dollars for real-time liquidity and capital efficiency.
Long also predicted an expansion of institutional access through the capital markets. While crypto ETFs are accelerating exposure, she noted they “only represent a small share of the broader market, underscoring the room for major growth.”
She forecast that 5% to 10% of capital markets settlements will move onchain as collateral mobility becomes a top use case.
On mergers and acquisitions, Long pointed to $8.6 billion in 2025 deal volume led by institutions and predicted that custody will drive the next wave of consolidation, with about half of the top 50 global banks establishing new custody agreements in 2026.