After a standout year for digital assets, Wall Street analysts are increasingly framing crypto as an institutional market rather than a retail-driven phenomenon.
JPMorgan now expects capital inflows into the sector to not only continue in 2026 but potentially pick up speed, following what it describes as a structural shift in how large investors approach cryptocurrencies.
Key Takeaways
Crypto saw a record inflow year in 2025, and major banks expect that momentum to carry into 2026.
Institutions are becoming more active as clearer U.S. rules make crypto easier to approach as a mainstream asset.
Large corporate and treasury buyers, rather than traders, were the biggest source of capital last year.
The bank estimates that crypto attracted close to $130 billion in fresh capital during 2025, setting a new annual high and comfortably exceeding the previous year’s total. Rather than treating this as a one-off surge, JPMorgan views it as a foundation for the next phase of growth.
Regulation reshapes the investment landscape
A key difference heading into 2026 is the regulatory backdrop. According to Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, clearer rules in the United States are removing long-standing barriers that kept many institutions on the sidelines. With legal uncertainty easing, banks, asset managers, and corporates are becoming more comfortable expanding their crypto exposure beyond simple price speculation.
JPMorgan argues this shift will show up across the ecosystem, from higher levels of crypto-focused mergers and acquisitions to renewed interest in IPOs and infrastructure-heavy businesses such as stablecoin issuers, custody providers, exchanges, payment platforms, and blockchain service firms.
Where the money actually came from
To map last year’s inflows, JPMorgan analyzed multiple channels, including exchange-traded products, activity in futures markets, venture capital fundraising, and balance-sheet buying by publicly listed companies. While Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs attracted substantial capital, the bank suggests these flows were largely driven by individual investors rather than institutions.
At the same time, professional trading activity told a more cautious story. Participation in crypto futures on platforms like CME Group fell compared to the previous year, signaling reduced engagement from hedge funds and other short-term institutional traders.
Corporate treasuries quietly dominate
One of the most striking developments of 2025 was the scale of purchases by digital asset treasury companies. More than half of all crypto inflows last year came from these vehicles, which accumulated tens of billions of dollars’ worth of digital assets early in the year before slowing down later on.
Strategy emerged as the single largest buyer, deploying roughly $23 billion, while other treasury-focused firms added tens of billions more. By the final quarter, however, buying momentum faded, affecting well-known names across the sector, including BitMine.
Venture capital lags despite friendlier rules
In contrast to treasury buying, crypto venture capital remained subdued. JPMorgan notes that although total funding volumes edged higher than in 2024, activity was still far below the highs seen earlier in the decade. Deal counts dropped sharply as investors concentrated on later-stage projects, while early-stage funding saw a pronounced pullback.
For JPMorgan’s analysts, this hesitation is puzzling given the improving regulatory environment in the U.S., which in theory should support risk-taking and innovation.
A different kind of crypto cycle ahead
Taken together, JPMorgan’s outlook suggests the next phase of the crypto market will look very different from past cycles. Retail-driven hype appears to be giving way to slower, more deliberate capital allocation by institutions and corporates. With regulation providing firmer ground and large players steadily increasing their commitments, the bank believes 2026 could mark a period where crypto behaves less like a speculative niche and more like a mature financial asset class.
