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Ripple’s president is putting a firm number on a trend that has been building quietly inside boardrooms. Monica Long says roughly 50% of Fortune 500 companies will adopt crypto or formal digital asset strategies by the end of 2026. The claim is bold. It also lines up with evidence that many large firms are already past the experiment phase and are deciding how crypto fits into daily financial operations.
Long made the prediction in a recent blog post and follow-up remarks, framing 2026 as the year crypto shifts from pilots to production. She argues that regulatory clarity and maturing infrastructure have changed how large companies view digital assets. The question for markets is not whether crypto appears on balance sheets, but how deeply it embeds into treasury, payments, and settlement.
Data suggests this is not starting from zero. A mid-2025 survey by Coinbase found that six in ten Fortune 500 executives said their firms were already working on blockchain initiatives. That includes payments, internal transfers, and asset tokenization. These efforts rarely make headlines, yet they signal internal budget and risk approval.
Public disclosures show a narrower group holding crypto directly. GameStop reported buying 4,710 bitcoin in May 2025. Tesla and Block Inc also hold bitcoin on their balance sheets. The list is short today, showing what early adoption looks like inside regulated firms.
Long also points to the growth of digital asset treasury firms. She says their number rose from four in 2020 to more than 200 today, with close to 100 formed in 2025 alone. That pace suggests demand for crypto treasury tools is accelerating.
After one of crypto’s most exciting years (and Ripple’s), the industry is entering its production era. In 2026 we’ll see the institutionalization of crypto — trusted infrastructure and real utility will push banks, corporates, and providers from pilots to scale — across…
— Monica Long (@MonicaLongSF) January 20, 2026
Long’s view puts stablecoins at the center of adoption. She argues that regulated digital dollars are becoming practical tools for settlement, liquidity management, and cross-border payments. Payment giants Visa and Stripe have already integrated stablecoin rails into parts of their systems.
This matters to corporates sitting on idle cash. Long cites estimates of hundreds of billions of dollars locked in working capital across large public firms. Stablecoins offer near-instant settlement and round-the-clock liquidity. For treasury teams, that is a concrete use case, not a speculative bet.
The 50% forecast rests on behavior, not price. If firms formalize digital asset strategies, crypto becomes operational. That includes tokenized assets, stablecoins, on-chain government debt, and automated settlement. ETF growth also matters. More than 40 crypto ETFs launched in 2025, but they still account for only a small share of the US ETF market. That imbalance points to significant room for institutional exposure to expand.
For readers, the signal to watch isn’t splashy bitcoin purchases. It’s quieter disclosures around payments, custody, and treasury workflows. If those start moving on-chain, Long’s forecast won’t sound aggressive at all. It may end up looking cautious.
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