5 Things That Will Transform Digital Asset Space In 2026

What Happened

According to Anoosh Arevshatian, Chief Product Officer at Zodia Custody, as 2026 approaches, the company is seeing a clear theme. “Institutional digital assets are moving from possibility to productivity,” she claims. “We are no longer talking about pilots or proofs of concept, we are talking about infrastructure.”

Notably, the report argues:

staking and DeFi will grow into institutional yield engines;

Market Context

2026 is the year digital assets will “grow up,” says Zodia Custody’s 2026 predictions report. The Standard Chartered-backed digital asset custodian looked into custody, collateral, and connectivity as the rising backbone of “market infrastructure.” At the same time, stablecoins, staking, and tokenisation are opening up capital efficiency for institutions globally, they said.

Building Blocks of a New Market Architecture

custody will become critical market infrastructure for institutional digital asset activities;

stablecoins and tokenised funds will become liquidity foundations;

collateral will redefine capital efficiency.

“As 2026 approaches, one theme is becoming clear: 2026 will not be defined by speculation or proof of concepts, but by execution and productivity. Institutions will focus on interoperability, trust, and capital efficiency, and digital asset infrastructure will gradually drive payments, clearing, and settlement as part of the world’s financial backbone.”

“Custody, settlement, staking, tokenisation, stablecoins – these are no longer fringe innovations; they are the building blocks of a new market architecture,” Arevshatian concludes.

Deborah Algeo Managing Director, Solutions, commented that, by 2026, “banks will treat digital-asset infrastructure like cloud computing – critical to operations, but not something to reinvent. Sub custody, white-label, and SaaS solutions will become the fastest, safest route to market.”

Moreover, Jay Tan, Product Innovation & Advisory Specialist, argued that custody will be “treated as critical financial market infrastructure – as fundamental as payments or clearing.”

“We’re seeing regulators and clients align around one clear idea: custody isn’t just safekeeping, it’s market infrastructure. By 2026, I expect board-level policies to mandate multiple custodians and continuous compliance evidence by default. The winners will be those who make regulatory conformity effortless, embedding compliance and security by design,” Tan wrote.

2. Stablecoins evolve into liquidity engines

Why It Matters

Custody will no longer be a service, but a system, with compliance, risk, and operational resilience.

Details

Per Arevshatian,

Zodia Custody’s clients and partners showcase a shift from experimentation to execution, the executive says. They are looking towards a future of finance that is digital, as well as governed, interoperable, and trusted.

Five Things to Watch in 2026 Digital Asset Space

Zodia Custody’s report lists five key elements to keep an eye on this upcoming year.

1. Custody matures into critical infrastructure

This, says the report is a crucial move as it forms “the key orchestration layer needed to unlock digital asset activities.” Custody is “the operational core of institutional adoption; the infrastructure upon which everything else runs.”

Regulators will work on global digital custodian standards, rising use cases will lead to digital asset custodians, institutions will adopt multi-custodian models, and custodians will partner up to expand ecosystem connectivity for end users.

Meanwhile, the company is a Canton Foundation member, describing the Canton Network is a ‘network of networks’ for institutional custody.

In 2026, stablecoins will not be just settlement tokens, but also programmable treasury tools.