Ripple President Monica Long believes that around half of Fortune 500 companies will adopt formal crypto or digital asset treasury strategies in 2026. She pointed to stablecoins, tokenized assets, and custody services as the main areas where adoption will accelerate.
According to Long, crypto is no longer viewed mainly as a speculative trading tool. Instead, large companies are starting to see it as financial infrastructure that can support everyday business operations.
From Experiments to Real-World Use
Long shared her views in a series of posts on X on January 20, along with a longer article published on Ripple’s website. She said banks and corporations are moving beyond small pilot programs and beginning to use crypto in live production environments.
Stablecoins are playing a key role in this shift, especially for payments and settlement. Companies are embedding them into payment systems to achieve faster transactions and more efficient liquidity management. Long highlighted growing participation from firms like Visa and Stripe, which have already integrated stablecoins into parts of their networks.
She also pointed to clearer regulation in the United States as a major driver of adoption, including the passage of the GENIUS Act, which provides guidance for dollar-backed digital assets. Ripple itself is expanding in this area with Ripple USD and has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank.
Crypto’s Expanding Role in Corporate Treasuries
Long said corporate crypto exposure is no longer limited to holding Bitcoin. She expects companies to increasingly hold stablecoins, tokenized government treasuries, and other on-chain assets as part of structured treasury strategies.
Supporting this trend, a Coinbase survey from 2025 found that 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies were already exploring blockchain initiatives, while more than 200 publicly listed firms held Bitcoin by the end of last year.
ETFs, Custody, and Industry Consolidation
Long’s comments come as institutional access to crypto continues to expand through exchange-traded funds. Ethereum and Solana ETFs recorded record trading volumes in early January 2026, suggesting sustained institutional interest rather than short-term speculation.
Asset managers are also broadening their offerings. Bitwise filed for 11 single-asset altcoin ETFs at the end of 2025, covering DeFi tokens, layer-one networks, and AI-related projects. Long said ETFs may represent only a small part of the market, but they provide a familiar entry point for institutions.
She also emphasized the growing importance of custody services. Crypto mergers and acquisitions reached $8.6 billion in 2025, with custody emerging as a key focus as banks seek to diversify risk. Long expects more than half of the world’s top 50 banks to establish new custody partnerships in 2026.
She added that blockchain systems will increasingly integrate with automation tools, allowing treasuries and asset managers to manage liquidity and collateral in real time. While her outlook remains a projection, it reflects a broader belief across the industry that institutional adoption is now driving the next phase of crypto’s evolution.
