Experts see regulatory clarity, on-chain infra as key 2026 crypto drivers

The Block has compiled 2026 cryptocurrency market forecasts from several industry experts, highlighting regulatory clarity and on-chain infrastructure as key themes. Keith Grose, CEO of Coinbase UK, stated that the next generation of the internet is being built on-chain, citing the strengthening of on-chain identity, settlement, and verification layers. Hoolie Tejwani, head of Coinbase Ventures, predicted that clear market regulations will be a turning point for crypto adoption in 2026, enabling founders to operate responsibly and boosting investor confidence. Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, suggested that regulation itself will become increasingly programmable with the emergence of jurisdiction-aware rollups that can automatically reflect regional rules on-chain. Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, noted that tokenization is becoming a mainstream method for capital raising, with improved efficiency prompting institutions to integrate blockchain into their core operations. Crypto asset manager Hashdex estimated that the AI-crypto sector's market size will reach $10 billion in 2026, driven by significant growth in decentralized computing, data provenance verification, and AI-to-AI coordination mechanisms.