In brief

• Moody’s 2026 Digital Finance Outlook report has concluded that blockchain-based tech could provide a “foundational infrastructure layer” for the finance industry this year.
• The ratings agency emphasizes that digital asset technology will allow for a greater degree of interoperability and efficiency.
• The firm's analysts also warn that regulatory harmonisation may be required in order for adoption to spread globally.

The technology underlying digital assets will evolve into a “foundational infrastructure layer” for the financial services industry in 2026, according to a new report from rating agency Moody’s.

Writing in its 2026 Digital Finance Outlook, Moody’s predicts that blockchain-based tech will have a growing impact this year on the capital allocation and market operations of traditional financial firms.

Affirming that stablecoins and tokenized assets attracted adoption in payments and liquidity management in 2025, the report goes on to highlight this year’s likely trends in the evolution and adoption of digital assets.

This includes the use of blockchains and other new tech to foster a “unified digital ecosystem” in which formerly disparate sectors—such as transition finance, private credit and emerging markets—will become more integrated.

“Digital finance platforms now host tokenized US Treasurys and structured credit products,” the report says. “Use of the new technology will pick up further in the coming year, and will highlight efficiency gains, although operational, regulatory, and cyber risks remain.”

The report also forecasts the increasing use of tokenized issuance and programmable settlement in order to provide efficiency gains, helping financial institutions to accelerate liquidity turnover (converting assets into cash), while also reducing reconciliation work and lowering other costs.

Co-author Cristiano Ventricelli, VP-Senior Analyst of Digital Assets at Moody’s, reiterates that evolving technologies such as stablecoins, tokenization and blockchains are going to “interconnect” areas of finance that were once separate.

“Several institutions are positioning to adopt stablecoins for cross-border payments and liquidity management, helping to bridge digital and traditional finance,” he told Decrypt. “Meanwhile, asset tokenization is gaining traction, making it easier and more cost-effective to issue and trade assets, and opening up new opportunities in markets that were previously hard to access.”