Crypto’s adoption is accelerating, but its relevance is shifting away from price returns and toward financial plumbing this year according to BTC Markets.
After reaching fresh highs in October 2025, digital asset markets entered a sharp reset as tighter macro conditions and the unwinding of leverage exposed lingering fragilities.
Liquidity availability, interest-rate expectations, ETF flows and geopolitical risk continued to shape capital allocation decisions throughout 2025. Volatility returned, but so did something more durable: clearer signs that crypto is maturing into a functional layer of the financial system, rather than a purely speculative asset class.
“Capital flowed toward infrastructure, utility, and disciplined participation. This transition sets the foundation for the next phase of market development,” BTC Markets head of finance Charlie Sherry said.
“Regulatory progress ranked among the most consequential developments of [2025]. Clearer frameworks across major jurisdictions reduced uncertainty for issuers and institutional participants.”
In Australia, the introduction of the Digital Asset Platform licensing regime requires crypto exchanges and custody providers to operate under an Australian Financial Services License, with an 18-month compliance window. ASIC also extended its stablecoin class exemption through June 2028, permitting licensed intermediaries to distribute stablecoins without separate clearing or market licenses.
“These changes enabled more predictable market participation,” Sherry said.
In the United States, updated SEC and Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) guidance on token classification and ETF approvals shortened approval timelines to around 75 days.
“This regulatory clarity expanded the range of compliant crypto investment products available to institutions. Regulation now sets standards, improves market integrity, and supports responsible participation,” Sherry said.
Meanwhile, institutional engagement with crypto continues to rise. Regulated custody, ETFs and tokenised assets have broadened access to the technology.
But institutions are increasingly using crypto to manage portfolios, move money more efficiently and improve settlement, rather than to make directional bets on token prices.
“As a result, adoption is becoming less correlated with token price appreciation,” Sherry said.
This shift is already visible in market activity. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which processed roughly US$3.7 quadrillion in securities transactions in 2024, is piloting tokenised US Treasury settlement via the Canton Network, with a minimum viable product expected in the first half of 2026. Outstanding tokenised Treasuries have grown from around US$2 billion to more than US$9 billion over the past 18 months.
In parallel, J.P. Morgan Asset Management has launched a US$100 million tokenised money-market fund on blockchain rails, enabling faster settlement and continuous issuance.
Sherry said these were all signs of progress, but ones that matter more to treasurers and back-office teams than market participants and speculators. “The value here is accruing to efficiency and risk reduction, rather than token price upside.”
“This is an interesting dynamic to watch for the next phase of crypto growth,” he added.
One area where the market reset is being closely watched is digital asset treasury companies (DATs), which became a prominent vehicle for institutional exposure in 2025. MicroStrategy accumulated more than 3 per cent of Bitcoin’s total supply, while other vehicles pursued similar strategies in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“These vehicles proved great drivers of positive price action in 2025. However, with digital asset prices declining in Q4 2025, the DATs are under pressure. We have yet to see a major DAT sell its holdings, so this is a key narrative to watch in 2026,” Sherry observed.
Beyond investment products, tokenisation and stablecoin settlement are moving into live deployment. Tokenised Treasuries, on-chain money-market funds and stablecoin payment rails are reducing friction in legacy systems by shortening settlement cycles and improving transparency.
“That shift is evident in payments. Visa processed more than US$3.5 billion in stablecoin settlement volume and expanded USDC settlement capabilities to US banks via public blockchain infrastructure, including Solana … in this context, blockchain increasingly functions as financial infrastructure rather than a speculative asset class.”
Despite growing real-world usage, BTC Markets says crypto markets remain highly sensitive to broader macro conditions.
“Despite the many labels (digital gold, sovereign asset, etc.), crypto has traded like a high-beta financial asset and the digital gold narrative in particular took a hit in 2025 with the significant underperformance of Bitcoin vs gold,” Sherry said. “The only time we saw outperformance in that regard was when we had major global macro uncertainty with the Trump tariffs. Time will tell if 2026 will present similar conditions.”
Crypto’s next phase will be decided less by narratives and more by execution, regulation and balance-sheet use cases.
“Markets built on infrastructure, risk discipline, and real utility tend to endure, and crypto increasingly fits that description, even if the price action does not always reflect it immediately,” Sherry said.
