5 Things That Will Transform Digital Asset Space in 2026 – Zodia Custody Report

2026 is the yr digital belongings will “develop up,” says Zodia Custody’s 2026 predictions report. The Standard Chartered-backed digital asset custodian seemed into custody, collateral, and connectivity because the rising spine of “market infrastructure.” At the identical time, stablecoins, staking, and tokenisation are opening up capital effectivity for establishments globally, they mentioned.

Building Blocks of a New Market Architecture

According to Anoosh Arevshatian, Chief Product Officer at Zodia Custody, as 2026 approaches, the corporate is seeing a transparent theme. “Institutional digital belongings are transferring from risk to productiveness,” she claims. “We are now not speaking about pilots or proofs of idea, we’re speaking about infrastructure.”

Notably, the report argues:

• custody will develop into crucial market infrastructure for institutional digital asset actions;
• stablecoins and tokenised funds will develop into liquidity foundations;
• staking and DeFi will develop into institutional yield engines;
• collateral will redefine capital effectivity.

Per Arevshatian,

“As 2026 approaches, one theme is changing into clear: 2026 won’t be outlined by hypothesis or proof of ideas, however by execution and productiveness. Institutions will deal with interoperability, belief, and capital effectivity, and digital asset infrastructure will progressively drive funds, clearing, and settlement as a part of the world’s monetary spine.”

Zodia Custody’s purchasers and companions showcase a shift from experimentation to execution, the manager says. They are trying in the direction of a way forward for finance that’s digital, in addition to ruled, interoperable, and trusted.

“Custody, settlement, staking, tokenisation, stablecoins – these are now not fringe improvements; they’re the constructing blocks of a brand new market structure,” Arevshatian concludes.

Five Things to Watch in 2026 Digital Asset Space

Zodia Custody’s report lists 5 key parts to keep watch over this upcoming yr.

1. Custody matures into crucial infrastructure

This, says the report is a vital transfer because it kinds “the important thing orchestration layer wanted to unlock digital asset actions.” Custody is “the operational core of institutional adoption; the infrastructure upon which all the things else runs.”

Custody will now not be a service, however a system, with compliance, threat, and operational resilience.

Regulators will work on world digital custodian requirements, rising use instances will result in digital asset custodians, establishments will undertake multi-custodian fashions, and custodians will accomplice as much as broaden ecosystem connectivity for finish customers.

Deborah Algeo Managing Director, Solutions, commented that, by 2026, “banks will deal with digital-asset infrastructure like cloud computing – crucial to operations, however not one thing to reinvent. Sub custody, white-label, and SaaS options will develop into the quickest, most secure path to market.”

Moreover, Jay Tan, Product Innovation & Advisory Specialist, argued that custody can be “handled as crucial monetary market infrastructure – as basic as funds or clearing.”

“We’re seeing regulators and purchasers align round one clear thought: custody isn’t simply safekeeping, it’s market infrastructure. By 2026, I anticipate board-level insurance policies to mandate a number of custodians and steady compliance proof by default. The winners can be those that make regulatory conformity easy, embedding compliance and safety by design,” Tan wrote.

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

2. Stablecoins evolve into liquidity engines

In 2026, stablecoins won’t be simply settlement tokens, but in addition programmable treasury instruments.

Safe and compliant stablecoin infrastructure and world regulatory readability will enhance the ecosystem and the rise of bank-issued and institutional-grade stablecoins.

Moreover, stablecoin treasuries will present 24/7 liquidity, automated funds, and yield-bearing methods.

“The line between money, collateral, and yield-bearing belongings will proceed to blur,” the report argues.

According to Kelly Lai, Head of Product Innovation & Advisory, stablecoins are “now not a crypto comfort, they’re the connective tissue of institutional finance. For banks, asset managers, and corporates, they provide what legacy methods can’t: real-time liquidity, programmable management, and clear backing.”

3. Collateral strikes in actual time

Next yr will see digital-asset collateral unlocking “trillions in idle capital,” Zodia Custody says. The progress of real-time margining and settlement will enhance transparency but in addition compress capital cycles.

Notably, the consultants anticipate regulators to acknowledge tokenised belongings as eligible collateral, and tokenised cash market funds and RWAs to enter collateral swimming pools.

“Custody and collateral will merge into one dynamic ecosystem, the place capital is at all times protected, but at all times working,” says the report.

“Collateral is the quiet drive that powers capital markets, and digital belongings are rewriting its playbook. As controls, regulation, and confidence mature, what began as cautious experimentation will develop into systemic change. Slowly, then immediately,” argues Steven Taylor, Strategic Product Development.

4. Staking and DeFi develop into yield infrastructure

Per the report, staking will shift from “an non-obligatory exercise to a default characteristic of digital asset custody.”

At the identical time, permissioned DeFi vaults will present regulated entry to decentralised yield, with yield being rebuilt as clear, programmable, and on-chain. Insitutional yield will enter a novel part with protected connectivity to vetted DeFi and staking networks.

Finally, tokenised funds and on-chain credit score swimming pools will combine with custody workflows.

Nezhda Aliyeva Head of Product, argued that staking will now not be a distinct segment yield technique. Rather, will probably be “an operational necessity for establishments in search of compliant, risk-adjusted returns on digital belongings.”

Therefore, institutional staking is already transferring from “experiment to expectation.” Clients need yield, however one offered as different monetary operations: segregated, safe, and compliant. “That’s why we’re constructing staking not as an add-on, however as an built-in functionality inside custody itself,” Aliyeva mentioned.

Also, Sahil Sood, Product Innovation & Advisory Specialist, highlighted that the corporate is seeing “a convergence of institutional liquidity with DeFi swimming pools, unlocking fascinating new use-cases, from looping methods with tokenised RWAs to hybrid borrow/lend fashions that mix DeFi liquidity with centralised collateral.”

Sood continued: “Protocols like Morpho are proving that risk-managed DeFi can ship compelling yields and transparency. By 2026, non-public DeFi vaults and permissioned markets can be core merchandise for establishments.”

5. Tokenised belongings go mainstream

The report admitted that this has been predicted many instances earlier than. However, the scenario is totally different in 2026, it argues.

Notably, the market has seen its infrastructure and tooling enhance, tokenised commodities recorded document inflows, and cash market funds and short-term credit score devices, amongst others, are issued, traded, and collateralised on-chain.

Custody and collateral infrastructure will make tokenised belongings as seamless and safe, whereas compliant tooling will present KYC and on-chain identification options that may consequence in establishments treating tokenised funds as digital money equivalents. They will earn yield whereas remaining compliant.

Finally, “In 2026, capital effectivity – not hypothesis – will outline the institutional digital asset period. Off-exchange settlement (OES) would be the gateway that makes it protected, compliant, and scalable,” says Wing Cheah, Head of Product, Interchange.

“Institutions aren’t chasing hypothesis; they’re chasing capital effectivity. Off-exchange settlement delivers that by placing custody and management again the place they belong. As tokenised collateral and controlled venues converge, OES will develop into the default workflow for critical institutional participation,” Cheah concludes.

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