The Bank That Crypto Nearly Killed Now Says Crypto Is Core Infrastructure
Silicon Valley Bank, whose March 2023 collapse sent shockwaves through crypto markets and briefly depegged USDC, has published its formal 2026 crypto outlook declaring that digital assets have crossed the threshold from "expectations to production." The report, covered by CoinDesk on February 16, 2026, frames this as the year crypto stops being an alternative financial system and starts becoming embedded in the existing one.
The irony is hard to miss. SVB, now operating under First Citizens BancShares after its FDIC-brokered rescue, was the poster child for what happens when traditional banking and crypto markets collide. Three years later, the same institution is telling the financial world that stablecoins are "the internet's dollar," tokenized assets have crossed $36 billion, and breakout consumer apps in 2026 "won't market as crypto, they'll feel like fintech."
$7.9 Billion in VC Funding and the Numbers That Back the Thesis
The full SVB report is a data dump that reads less like a bank newsletter and more like a venture capital pitch deck. As of its publication, here are the numbers that matter:
Venture capital deployed into U.S. crypto companies in 2025: $7.9 billion, a 44% increase from 2024. Deal volume actually fell 33%, which means the money concentrated into fewer, larger bets. Median check sizes climbed 1.5x to $5 million. Seed-stage valuations hit $34 million, a 70% jump from 2023.
Corporate Bitcoin adoption: 172 publicly traded companies held Bitcoin on their balance sheets as of Q3 2025, up 40% from Q2. Collectively, these companies control roughly 1 million BTC, approximately 5% of circulating supply.
M&A activity: Over 140 VC-backed crypto companies were acquired in the four quarters ending September 2025, a 59% year-over-year increase. The marquee deals tell the story of consolidation: Coinbase acquired Deribit for $2.9 billion, Kraken paid $1.5 billion for NinjaTrader, and 18 companies filed OCC national trust bank charter applications in 2025 compared to just one the year before.
The AI crossover: For every dollar of crypto venture capital deployed, 40 cents went to companies also building AI products, up from 18 cents previously. SVB frames this as convergence, not competition: autonomous AI agents that can transact in stablecoins without human intervention.
Five OCC Charters and the Regulatory Thaw
Perhaps the most underreported number in the SVB report is this: on December 12, 2025, the OCC granted conditional approval to five national trust bank charters for crypto-native companies. In a single day, five firms received the same type of banking license that traditional institutions spend years pursuing.
This follows the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, which established federal standards for stablecoin issuance, including 1:1 reserve backing and monthly public disclosures. Beginning in 2027, only permitted entities will be allowed to issue compliant stablecoins domestically.
SVB's read on this is that the regulatory thaw is not just permitting crypto, it is actively channeling it into the banking system. The 18 OCC applications signal that crypto companies no longer want to operate alongside banks. They want to become them.
Stablecoins as the Internet's Dollar
The stablecoin data is where SVB's thesis gets most concrete. Global venture investment in stablecoin-focused companies exceeded $1.5 billion in 2025, up from under $50 million in 2019. That is a 30x increase in six years, and SVB argues the growth is accelerating.
The report positions stablecoins as moving from trading tools into digital cash for enterprise operations. Near-instant settlement and lower transaction costs compared to ACH or card networks make dollar-backed tokens attractive for treasury operations, cross-border payments, and B2B settlement.
This dovetails with what we have been tracking across the crypto card ecosystem. OKX recently secured an EU payments institution license specifically to enable stablecoin card expansion across 28 EEA countries. Gate.io's CEO declared at Consensus Hong Kong that banks have "lost the existential war" against stablecoins. And Circle printed $2.6 billion in USDC in a single week as supply crossed $73 billion.
When SVB says stablecoins are becoming "the internet's dollar," they are describing the same infrastructure that underpins every crypto card transaction, from self-custody spending to exchange-linked debit cards.
What Onchain Treasuries and Tokenized Assets Mean for Crypto Spending
The report cites $36 billion in onchain representations of cash, treasuries, and money market instruments. BlackRock's BUIDL fund has surpassed $500 million. Franklin Templeton's tokenized funds exceeded $400 million. These are not pilot programs. They are production-scale financial products operating on public blockchains.
For the crypto card ecosystem, this matters because tokenized assets expand what can sit behind a card. Today, most crypto-backed credit cards let you collateralize with BTC, ETH, or stablecoins. As tokenized treasuries and money market instruments become standard onchain assets, the collateral base for crypto spending products grows dramatically. A card backed by a tokenized T-bill earning 4.5% yield is a fundamentally different product than one backed by volatile crypto, and SVB's data suggests this future is arriving faster than most expect.
The Consolidation Play and What It Means for Users
SVB predicts that exchanges, custodians, infrastructure providers, and brokerages will consolidate into "multiproduct companies" that make crypto capabilities "invisible, regulated, and usable at scale." We are already seeing this. Binance launched a tokenized collateral program with Franklin Templeton. Coinbase built agentic wallets. Kraken absorbed a traditional derivatives platform.
For users comparing crypto cards, this consolidation trend means the distinction between "exchange card" and "standalone card" is blurring. The platforms that win will offer trading, custody, yield, and spending in a single interface. SVB's data suggests this is not aspirational, it is the current trajectory backed by $7.9 billion in capital deployment.
FAQ
Why does it matter that SVB specifically is making this call? SVB's March 2023 collapse triggered a bank run that briefly depegged USDC and shook confidence in the crypto-banking relationship. The same institution, now under First Citizens BancShares, declaring crypto as "core financial infrastructure" signals that the traditional banking system has moved past the trauma of 2023 and is actively integrating digital assets.
What does 172 public companies holding Bitcoin mean for the market? As of Q3 2025, these 172 companies collectively hold approximately 1 million BTC, or about 5% of circulating supply. This corporate demand creates a structural floor under Bitcoin's price and signals that treasury diversification into crypto is no longer experimental. It is a recognized corporate strategy.
How does the GENIUS Act affect crypto card users? The GENIUS Act established federal stablecoin standards including 1:1 reserve backing and monthly disclosures. For card users, this means the stablecoins funding your crypto card transactions have standardized backing requirements, reducing counterparty risk. Beginning 2027, only permitted issuers can create compliant stablecoins, which should further consolidate trust in the infrastructure behind card payments.
What is the AI-crypto convergence SVB describes? SVB found that 40 cents of every crypto venture dollar now goes to companies also building AI products. The convergence thesis is that autonomous AI agents will eventually transact in stablecoins without human intervention, creating a new category of crypto spending that does not require a human holding a card.
Overview
Silicon Valley Bank's 2026 crypto outlook is a data-heavy validation of what the market has been building toward for years. The headline numbers, $7.9 billion in VC funding up 44%, 172 public BTC holders up 40% quarter-over-quarter, 140+ M&A deals up 59%, are not projections. They are rearview-mirror data from 2025 that paint a picture of an industry crossing from experimental to institutional. The stablecoin thesis, that dollar-backed tokens are becoming core payment infrastructure rather than trading tools, aligns directly with the expansion of crypto card programs and stablecoin spending products across the EEA, UK, and beyond. When a bank that nearly died from crypto exposure calls crypto "core financial infrastructure," the narrative shift is complete.
Recommended Reading
- OKX Secures EU Payments Institution License in Malta, Clearing the Path for Stablecoin Card Expansion Across 28 Countries
- Circle Prints $2.6 Billion in USDC in a Single Week as Stablecoin Supply Crosses $73 Billion
- Coinbase CEO Draws Red Line on GENIUS Act as Banks Push to Kill Stablecoin Yield
