In a projection that underscores the accelerating adoption of cryptocurrency in corporate finance, Monica Long, currently serving as President of Ripple, has forecast that approximately 50% of Fortune 500 companies will actively implement formal crypto strategies by the close of 2026. This anticipated shift reflects broader industry movements toward digital assets, particularly stablecoins, which are emerging as the mainstay payment rails for worldwide transactions.
Long has articulated a vision wherein stablecoins will not merely supplement but supplant traditional payment mechanisms within the next five years. This transformation from alternative to foundational payment infrastructure stems from advancements already underway within major financial technology players and regulatory frameworks.
Companies such as Visa Inc. and Stripe are integrating stablecoin technologies into their core payment architecture, signaling significant industry endorsement. Furthermore, legislative progress in the United States via the Generalized Efficient, Novel, and Inclusive U.S. Stablecoin (GENIUS) Act has paved the regulatory path, legalizing compliant stablecoins and setting the stage for their adoption as the de facto platform for constant, global payment operations.
Ripple’s own trajectory mirrors this transition. The company recently received conditional authorization from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, positioning Ripple USD as the leading programmable payment standard in this evolving landscape.
The numerical data substantiates this momentum. Business-to-business (B2B) payment volumes routed through stablecoins surged dramatically, reaching an annualized figure of $76 billion by 2025. This compares to a baseline of less than $100 million per month in early 2023, illustrating the rapid uptake of this technology. However, Long emphasizes a more substantial opportunity lies in the submerged potential of over $700 billion dormant on corporate balance sheets — funds that stablecoins could mobilize to unlock real-time liquidity and operational agility.
Looking ahead, Long predicts that the combined digital asset holdings on corporate balance sheets will exceed $1 trillion by the end of 2026, with close to half of Fortune 500 firms maintaining active cryptocurrency strategies. Supportive data emerges from a 2025 survey conducted by Coinbase Global Inc., which revealed that 60% of surveyed Fortune 500 companies are engaged in blockchain-related projects.
The trend towards digital asset treasury management is growing robustly. The number of publicly disclosed companies utilizing Bitcoin for treasury purposes expanded from four in 2020 to over 200 by the present, with nearly 100 new entrants joining in 2025 alone. Complementing this, the cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) space also expanded, with over 40 new crypto ETFs launched in 2025. Despite this increase, crypto ETFs account for just 1-2% of the overall U.S. ETF market, highlighting considerable potential for further influxes of institutional capital.
Anticipating future capital markets dynamics, Long expects that between 5 and 10% of capital markets settlement will transition onto blockchain networks by 2026. This shift will be facilitated by custodian banks and clearinghouses embracing tokenization technologies for enhanced trade settlement resilience and efficiency.
The custody arena is experiencing its own evolution, influenced by an active wave of mergers and acquisitions driven by institutional demand. In 2025, crypto-related corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) reached $8.6 billion, reflecting a consolidation trend in the sector. It is projected that more than half of the globe’s 50 largest banks will formalize new custody partnerships within 2026. The custody market's commoditization is urging standalone providers to diversify their offerings or seek integrations with larger entities.
Banks are increasingly deploying multi-custodian strategies to mitigate risk, while regulatory pressures simultaneously accelerate sector consolidation. Ripple has expanded integration with traditional financial systems through acquisitions such as GTreasury and Hidden Road, while other crypto firms like Kraken have purchased established players like NinjaTrader. These moves underscore a preference for crypto enterprises to integrate into existing financial frameworks rather than develop infrastructure independently.
Looking beyond payments and custody, Long envisions a convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies during 2026 that will automate numerous financial functions traditionally reliant on manual processes. She anticipates that stablecoins combined with smart contracts will empower corporate treasuries with autonomous capabilities to manage liquidity, automate margin calls, and optimize yield generation.
Additionally, asset managers will leverage AI to dynamically rebalance exposure to tokenized assets, facilitating real-time portfolio adjustments reflective of continuous 24/7 on-chain marketplace conditions. Innovations such as zero-knowledge proofs may further revolutionize credit risk assessments, enabling AI to evaluate risk profiles without compromising proprietary or confidential data. Such advances could streamline lending processes and catalyze broader adoption of digital assets in highly regulated environments.