Ripple President Monica Long has released a strategic outlook for 2026, outlining a strict timeline for institutional adoption. According to her, the technical and regulatory frameworks are ready, and the race for efficiency is on. Capital is flowing into four sectors: stablecoins, onchain assets, custody, and AI automation.
Stablecoins — The New Standard?
According to Long, within the next five years, stablecoins will become the foundation of global settlement. This is already happening: giants like Visa and Stripe are hardwiring these rails into their systems.
In the U.S., the passage of the GENIUS Act officially launched the digital dollar era. Regulated coins, including Ripple USD, are becoming the gold standard for 24/7 payments and collateral.
Last year, the volume of B2B stablecoin payments reached an annual run-rate of $76 B, up from under $100 M a month in early 2023. Companies are sitting on mountains of trapped capital: over $700 B is sitting idle on S&P 1500 balance sheets, and in Europe, this figure exceeds €1.3 T. Stablecoins put this money to work.
Corporations Are Buying In
Long predicts that by the end of 2026, companies will hold more than $1 T in digital assets on their balance sheets. Half of the Fortune 500 will formalize their crypto strategies. Companies are buying Bitcoin and actively working with tokenized bonds and treasuries.
To date, more than 200 public companies hold Bitcoin reserves. The ETF market is moving too—over 40 new funds launched last year. While this captures just 1–2% of the total U.S. ETF market, the upside remains massive.
The Battle for Custody
The market is maturing through acquisitions. In 2025, crypto M&A deal volume hit $8.6 B. Banks and fintechs are buying up custody infrastructure. Long bets that this year, more than half of the world’s top 50 banks will sign new partnerships with custodians. Regulators are applying pressure for risk diversification, forcing banks to use multiple providers to store assets.
Blockchain + AI
These two technologies are finally converging. Smart contracts and stablecoins will enable treasuries to manage liquidity and margin calls in real-time, with zero manual intervention.
Asset managers are connecting AI to rebalance portfolios of tokenized assets. Meanwhile, zero-knowledge technology solves the privacy issue: AI can assess credit risk without exposing sensitive client data.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advertising or investment advice. Please do your own research before making any decisions.