Banks, brokerages, and exchanges are moving from “maybe later” to “how fast can we launch.” That’s the core message Axios relayed from the crypto industry, with a clear 2026 timeline and a practical reason for the rush. Demand is no longer only retail. Axios quotes David Ripley, co-CEO of Kraken, saying “nearly all traditional financial services companies are gonna offer crypto, bitcoin, ethereum to their customers” and calling it “a big story of 2026.”
This shift is bigger than one company’s roadmap. Axios frames it as a collision of mega-trends that make finance feel more digital, more global, and more continuous. Ripley points to stablecoins, tokenization, AI, and extended-hours trading converging into a system that keeps operating when traditional markets sleep.
Stablecoins tee up tokenized equities
Stablecoins sit at the center of the narrative, at least according to Ripley. He tells Axios that stablecoins have primed investors for “tokenized public equities.” His specific emphasis is on public markets, not obscure experiments.
That matters because “tokenization” can mean anything from simple wrapped representations to full settlement and ownership changes. Axios’s account narrows the target. Ripley says the next significant tokenized assets would be public equities.
Kraken is already tying that thesis to product behavior. Axios reports the exchange plans to offer tokenized IPO shares to retail investors. The goal is not just to serve wealthy clients. Ripley characterizes ordinary Americans as “entirely locked out” of major wealth-creating companies until late in their lifecycle.
IPO hype meets extended-hours trading
The crypto-to-IPO bridge lands on timing, not theory. Axios says the IPO market is preparing for what it calls a historic wave. SpaceX is targeting a Nasdaq debut this week and is seeking about $75 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation, which would be the largest IPO on record.
Nasdaq CFO Sarah Youngwood tells Axios the U.S. market can absorb a pipeline of trillion-dollar offerings without structural changes. Nasdaq is also pushing into extended-hours trading, which Axios connects to crypto markets that never close.
That linkage has a regulatory subtext. Extended-hours trading can strain oversight and liquidity assumptions. But Axios’s point is operational. If traditional venues start behaving more like crypto schedules, it becomes easier for banks and brokers to justify crypto-adjacent products.
Bitcoin ETFs keep a fat balance sheet
The other side of the story is capital already in motion. Axios reports that while bitcoin is fighting near $60,000, the market’s downturn has not scared institutions away.
Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, John D’Agostino, tells Axios that sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other large investors are buying the dip. He also points to how institutions interpret recent risk.
Axios says Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala increased exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF for a fourth consecutive quarter. It also says Bitcoin ETFs collectively still hold roughly $100 billion in assets despite the downturn.
D’Agostino attributes the selloff to a stack of familiar drivers: macroeconomic uncertainty, elevated interest rates, regulatory delays, geopolitical tensions, and concerns sparked by Strategy’s sale of 32 BTC. He adds that institutions remain confident in Bitcoin’s long-term value. That view is reinforced in Axios’s account by Strategy’s subsequent purchase of 1,550 BTC for $101 million.
What’s actually shifting, and what might not
The real change here is institutional product plumbing. Axios’s quotes describe a sector that previously treated crypto as a reputational or compliance problem. Now those institutions are racing to offer crypto products, including bitcoin and ethereum, to customers.
But “rushing in” doesn’t erase constraints. Axios still mentions regulatory delays and geopolitics as active headwinds, and D’Agostino’s explanation of the selloff keeps them in the frame.
For readers, the deadline signal is simple. Axios anchors the acceleration in 2026. Kraken’s tokenized IPO plan and Nasdaq’s extended-hours push suggest the industry wants to test tokenization and market schedule changes on live customers, not in pilots.
Key facts from Axios
| Item | What Axios reports |
|---|---|
| Kraken’s stance | David Ripley says nearly all traditional financial services companies will offer crypto products and calls it “a big story of 2026.” |
| Tokenization target | Ripley expects major tokenized assets to move toward public equities, enabled by stablecoins. |
| Kraken product plan | Kraken plans to offer tokenized IPO shares to retail investors. |
| Nasdaq catalyst | Nasdaq is pushing into extended-hours trading; SpaceX targets a Nasdaq debut this week, seeking about $75B at a $1.7T valuation. |
| Bitcoin ETF exposure | Mubadala increased exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF for a fourth consecutive quarter. Bitcoin ETFs hold roughly $100B in assets despite the downturn. |
| Institutional buys | Coinbase’s John D’Agostino says sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other large investors are buying bitcoin dips. |
| Why the selloff happened | D’Agostino cites macro uncertainty, elevated interest rates, regulatory delays, geopolitical tensions, and Strategy’s sale of 32 BTC. |
| Reinforcement trade | Axios notes Strategy later bought 1,550 BTC for $101M. |
The direction is clear. Traditional finance wants crypto rails and tokenized assets. The uncertainty is also clear. Regulation still delays. Liquidity and market structure still matter. The next phase won’t be a slogan. It will be product rollouts, settlement choices, and where regulators draw the lines.