Jeffries said he expects a new wave of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related listings as institutional adoption of digital asset infrastructure accelerates on Wall Street and across the payments industry.
In a report released after the inaugural Digital Asset Investor Conference in New York, Jefferies said it expects a surge in crypto-related listings over the next two years and believes the sector could grow into a $1 trillion public market within five years.
The conference, which brought together executives from 35 digital asset companies and about 150 institutional investors, focused less on Bitcoin price speculation and more on how blockchain systems are becoming integrated into traditional finance.
Jeffries said conversations with clients show investors are becoming increasingly confident that blockchain technology is moving beyond experimentation and into core financial infrastructure.
“Customer engagement continues to grow as banks, exchanges, asset managers, fintechs, and payments companies integrate blockchain infrastructure and shift focus to new beneficiaries,” the report said.
The crypto IPO market has slowed this year after a booming 2025, when several digital asset companies successfully went public amid rising Bitcoin prices and renewed investor appetite for crypto-related stocks. While the recent decline in listings largely reflects broader market volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty, a wave of new listings is expected later this year, with several crypto companies finalizing IPO plans, including Securitize and Kraken parent Payward.
Jeffries also pointed to tokenization, the process of representing financial assets on blockchain networks, as one of the biggest drivers behind that change. Conference executives said tokenized money market funds, private credit products and blockchain-based payment systems have already begun operations following recent regulatory guidance that reduces legal uncertainty around digital assets.
The trend of Wall Street embracing blockchain technology and de-focusing on crypto prices has been a recurring theme in recent months. Large financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and other traditional fintech companies are fully committed to incorporating the technology into their business models, no matter what the price of Bitcoin is.
In fact, tokenization and stablecoins were a major theme at this year’s Consensus Miami, overshadowing all other crypto-related discussions. “We are moving into a world where essentially the entire economy is tokenized,” said Joseph Rubin, CEO and founder of ConsenSys in Miami.
Jefferies argued that greater regulatory clarity could further accelerate adoption, particularly among highly regulated financial institutions. The bank pointed to the proposed CLARITY Act, which would establish a broader market structure framework for digital assets in the U.S., and said the bill could be the “missing piece” that fosters investment by institutional investors and pushes blockchain-based finance further into the mainstream.
“Destruction of technology”
The report also highlighted that traditional financial companies are increasingly partnering with crypto-native infrastructure providers rather than competing directly with them.
Conference panelists described the growing ecosystem in which banks, trading platforms, and payment companies are leveraging blockchain networks to reduce payment times, improve capital efficiency, and launch new financial products.
Earlier this year, tokenization firm Securitize partnered with securities exchange Computershare to help publicly traded companies issue tokenized shares directly within their existing shareholder record system, while cryptocurrency platform Blish (BLSH), owner of CoinDesk, agreed to acquire securities exchange Equinity for $4.2 billion to power its blockchain-based payments infrastructure.
Stablecoins and tokenized payments have been repeatedly mentioned as key areas for near-term growth, especially as payment companies look for ways to reduce the cost of cross-border transfers and operate around the clock.
The conference was attended by executives from companies such as Ripple, Kraken, Galaxy (GLXY), Blish (BLSH), and ConsenSys.
When BlackRock first launched its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, institutional adoption was the biggest driver, and how that adoption would play out was one of the hottest topics at the time. Fast forward to today, and these sophisticated investors appear to view this sector not as a short-term speculative trade, but as a disruptive technology that can enhance their business models over the long term.
Jeffries said the discussions reflect a broader shift in investor interest from meme coins and speculative trading activity to blockchain systems that generate revenue from trading, payments, lending and tokenized financial products.
“Investors often overestimate the magnitude of technological disruption in the short term and underestimate the magnitude of technology disruption in the long term,” the report said.
