Digital Finance Will Evolve Into ‘Foundational Infrastructure Layer’ in 2026: Moody’s

The expertise underlying digital belongings will evolve right into a “foundational infrastructure layer” for the monetary companies trade in 2026, in response to a brand new report from ranking company Moody’s.

Writing in its 2026 Digital Finance Outlook, Moody’s predicts that blockchain-based tech could have a rising affect this yr on the capital allocation and market operations of conventional monetary companies.

Affirming that stablecoins and tokenized belongings attracted adoption in funds and liquidity administration in 2025, the report goes on to spotlight this yr’s probably traits within the evolution and adoption of digital belongings.

This consists of the usage of blockchains and different new tech to foster a “unified digital ecosystem” by which previously disparate sectors—resembling transition finance, personal credit score and rising markets—will grow to be extra built-in.

“Digital finance platforms now host tokenized US Treasurys and structured credit score merchandise,” the report says. “Use of the brand new expertise will choose up additional within the coming yr, and can spotlight effectivity positive aspects, though operational, regulatory, and cyber dangers stay.”

The report additionally forecasts the growing use of tokenized issuance and programmable settlement as a way to present effectivity positive aspects, serving to monetary establishments to speed up liquidity turnover (changing belongings into money), whereas additionally lowering reconciliation work and decreasing different prices.

Co-author Cristiano Ventricelli, VP-Senior Analyst of Digital Belongings at Moody’s, reiterates that evolving applied sciences resembling stablecoins, tokenization and blockchains are going to “interconnect” areas of finance that have been as soon as separate.

“A number of establishments are positioning to undertake stablecoins for cross-border funds and liquidity administration, serving to to bridge digital and conventional finance,” he advised Decrypt. “In the meantime, asset tokenization is gaining traction, making it simpler and cheaper to challenge and commerce belongings, and opening up new alternatives in markets that have been beforehand arduous to entry.”

]]>

General, Ventricelli instructed that blockchain-based expertise is already streamlining conventional monetary processes, one thing which can present impetus for extra monetary establishments and repair companies to roll out their very own options.

He predicted, “As these improvements mature, the markets will more and more compete on the power and maturity of their infrastructure layers that aren’t solely safe and environment friendly but in addition extremely interoperable, permitting for seamless integration with present monetary programs and narrowing the hole between previous and new finance fashions.”

Regulatory fragmentation

Whereas the report declares that digital finance has entered “a brand new part” as we enter 2026, Ventricelli additionally accepts that progress might be slowed down by a number of key challenges.

“One of many greatest is the shortage of harmonized laws throughout nations, which results in fragmented infrastructure and makes establishments cautious about adopting new digital merchandise at scale,” he defined.

Whereas some areas–most notably the EU with its MiCA regulation–have been harmonising on regulation, fragmentation elsewhere makes it much less probably that completely different programs will be capable to work collectively.

And for Ventricelli, this will increase operational dangers and makes digital belongings much less liquid, whereas he provides that rising adoption might, at the least within the shorter time period, improve the chance of cyberattacks.

There’s little doubt that mainstream monetary adoption of blockchain-based expertise is rising, as evidenced by current ETF filings and launches, for instance, with CoinShares’ annual report revealing that digital funds attracted over $47 billion in funding final yr.

But when such traits are to proceed and broaden, Moody’s argues that sturdy infrastructure and broad participation is required.

Ventricelli mentioned, “With out clear cross-border cooperation and regulatory readability, these benefits will not be totally realized, and the general development of digital finance might be restricted.”