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There is a clear shift in the priorities of institutions as the bitcoin industry enters 2026. Senior decision-makers and capital allocators are focusing more on core infrastructure than on decentralized finance (DeFi) apps or new products that are aimed at consumers. A new study of 242 senior industry players at the CfC St. Moritz conference found that liquidity restrictions, market depth, and settlement reliability are the biggest obstacles to wider adoption.
The results, which came out in early February 2026 after the invitation-only event in January, show that professional investors are being more careful and realistic. Many people are still hopeful about income growth and technological innovation, but capital deployment has become much more picky.
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Infrastructure, which includes custody solutions, clearing methods, stablecoin rails, and tokenization frameworks, is presently the most popular way to get funding. It is much more popular than DeFi, compliance tools, cybersecurity measures, and user experience upgrades.
Infrastructure is the most important thing when it comes to allocating capital
When asked to rank what they wanted to spend the most money on in the next year, 85% of people said infrastructure. This group contains the basic things that need to be in place for a lot of institutions to participate: safe custody arrangements, fast settlement systems, strong market-making capabilities, and reliable connections between traditional finance and blockchain networks.
DeFi, which had caused a lot of the excitement in past rounds, slipped even farther down the list. DeFi is still seen as a good long-term investment, but it doesn’t get the same amount of immediate funding anymore. Respondents said that the more measured posture was because of ongoing problems with regulatory handling, smart contract risk, and user onboarding difficulties.
The most common reasons for institutions not to enter the market were liquidity and market depth. A large majority, 84%, said that the current macroeconomic situation is better than neutral for the rise of cryptocurrencies. But they kept saying that the current market plumbing wasn’t good enough to handle big institutional flows. Thin order books, delays in settlement, and limited depth during times of stress continue to keep larger allocators away since they need predictable execution at scale.
The macroeconomic environment is still good, but execution is more important
The poll showed that people generally had a positive assessment of the macro landscape. Most of the people who took part in the survey think that institutions will still be interested in digital assets in 2026. This is because important jurisdictions will have clearer rules and traditional financial institutions will be more open to them. Stablecoin volumes, tokenized real-world assets, and regulated investment products are thought to be the main reasons for this development.
Expectations for spectacular innovation have also gone down compared to past years. Most people still expect technology to move forward quickly, but fewer people foresee a big breakthrough in 2026. This move toward growth that focuses on execution instead than speculative stories fits with the larger trend in the industry away from retail-driven cycles and toward institutional maturity.
The survey showed a big improvement in how U.S. regulators feel. The United States came in second place for the best place to hold digital assets, behind only the United Arab Emirates. The shift shows that there has been progress on stablecoin laws and that regulated market participants have better rules on how to do business. In the past, U.S. regulatory uncertainty was always a top issue. This is a change from that.
Expectations for IPOs Drop After Record Year
Another interesting conclusion was that people were less excited about initial public offerings (IPOs) related to cryptocurrencies. Most people still expect more listings, although their confidence has dropped from the record high levels recorded in 2025. Valuation resets, liquidity problems, and a more picky group of investors have made people less excited about IPOs in the foreseeable future.
The 2025 IPO wave brought a lot of big-name companies to the stock market, especially those that provide infrastructure and run exchanges. But since the listing, performance has been inconsistent, with many shares trading below their offering prices because the market has been so volatile. People who answered said that future listings will need stronger fundamentals, clearer paths to profitability, and stronger liquidity profiles to keep institutional interest.
What this means for the rest of the crypto ecosystem
The poll results show that the market is growing up and that decisions about where to put money are based more on how ready the infrastructure is than on how much money it could make. It looks like institutional investors are ready to put money to work, but only when the basics—custody, settlement, liquidity, and regulatory clarity—all clearly in place.
This change has big effects on different parts of the ecosystem:
DeFi protocols could have to wait longer for money to come in until they get more clear rules and institutional-level security.
Infrastructure providers including custodians, clearing houses, stablecoin issuers, and settlement layers are expected to keep getting money.
Tokenized real-world assets and regulated investment products are likely to get more and more interest from institutions.
Apps that are meant for consumers will need to show that they can make money in a way that lasts and keep users without using token incentives.
The focus on market depth and settlement capacity also shows how important liquidity providers and market makers are. Thin order books and excessive slippage are still big problems for big allocators, especially when things are tough. Projects and platforms that can show that they have stable, deep liquidity will probably get more than their fair share of institutional flows.
Conclusion
The CfC St. Moritz poll gives a clear picture of how institutions are thinking as the industry moves toward 2026. Even many people are still hopeful about the long-term future of cryptocurrencies, investors are getting more picky. Infrastructure, not speculative applications, is now the most important thing for decision-makers.
Regulatory uncertainty is no longer the main reason people don’t embrace. Instead, liquidity restrictions and settlement reliability are. The next wave of institutional finance will be most helpful to projects and platforms that can overcome these basic problems. The message for the larger ecosystem is clear: the way to make it mainstream is not through retail speculation, but through strong, dependable infrastructure.
As the market grows up, execution and fundamentals will become more and more important. It’s getting harder to get money for ideas that haven’t been tested yet. Instead, there is a more regimented atmosphere where actual infrastructure wins.
