coindesk.com
Asset manager Ark Invest said the convergence of blockchain technology, institutional adoption and regulatory clarity is reshaping digital assets from a speculative niche into a foundational layer of the global financial system.
In its Big Ideas 2026 report, Ark Invest framed the shift as a significant change rather than incremental progress, arguing that bitcoin BTC$89,521.18, smart contract networks and tokenized assets are moving from experimentation to scale faster than consensus expectations.
The investment manager pointed to bitcoin’s growing role as a new institutional asset class.
According to the firm, U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and public companies increased their combined bitcoin holdings to about 12% of total supply in 2025, up from less than 9% a year earlier. Over the same period, the report said bitcoin’s risk-adjusted returns outperformed most major cryptocurrencies and broader crypto indexes, while drawdowns from all-time highs became more muted, reinforcing its case that the cryptocurrency is maturing as a store of value.
Looking ahead, the asset manager expects bitcoin to remain the dominant digital asset by market value. The firm estimated that the combined market for BTC and smart contract networks could grow at an annualized rate of about 60% to roughly $28 trillion by 2030, with bitcoin accounting for around 70% of that total.
Ark Invest forecasted bitcoin’s market capitalization could rise from about $2 trillion today to roughly $16 trillion by the end of the decade, driven by its role as “digital gold” and increasing institutional participation.
The report also highlighted the rapid growth of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets as a key catalyst for broader adoption. The firm noted that regulatory clarity in the U.S. has prompted financial institutions to reassess stablecoin and tokenization strategies, helping push stablecoin transaction volumes to levels that rival or exceed major legacy payment networks.
In Ark Invest’s view, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, commodities and eventually equities are early signals of a much larger migration of financial assets onto public blockchains.
While the market value of tokenized assets remains small today, the firm projected it could exceed $11 trillion by 2030 as sovereign debt, bank deposits and public equities increasingly move on-chain. Ark argued that decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and crypto-native issuers are already narrowing the gap with traditional fintechs in assets under management, revenue efficiency and institutional relevance.
Taken together, the investment firm said these trends point toward a future in which public blockchains underpin money, contracts and ownership at global scale. Adoption, the report cautioned, will not happen all at once, but investors and institutions that recognize the shift early may be better positioned as digital assets become a more integral part of the financial system.
Read more: Bitcoin price may hit $300,000 to $1.5 million by 2030, Ark Invest Says