Author: Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Compiled by: AididioJP, Foresight News A core idea behind investing in cryptocurrencies is that they will reshape the infrastructure of the financial industry. So far, we can cite three areas where real progress has been made: Bitcoin is reshaping gold's role as an inflation hedge. Stablecoins are reshaping the dollar. Tokenization is reshaping trading and settlement. Although these changes are still in their early stages, the trend is already quite clear. I believe that eventually most assets will be tokenized, most US dollars will circulate through stablecoins, and Bitcoin will be as widely accepted as gold. These are trillions of dollars in opportunities, enough to drive a generation-long bull market in the cryptocurrency market. But just this Monday, we saw a fourth important area: capital formation. I believe this will be a key theme in the cryptocurrency space in 2026. Next, I will explain what exactly happened, why this is so important, and how to seize this investment opportunity if my judgment is correct. First, let's review some background. Capital formation is one of the most important functions of the financial sector. Through this process, entrepreneurs are able to raise funds, start new companies, develop products, and create jobs. Unfortunately, the current system is not only rigid and inefficient, but also extremely unfriendly to individual investors. Institutional funds flow to top-tier venture capital firms, which then reinvest in the best startups. These companies remain private for extended periods, continuously accumulating value for early shareholders. When they finally go public, the shares are primarily sold to other institutional investors. Retail investors can only participate in the final stages. This system is costly and regulatoryly complex, resulting in a significantly lower number of IPOs compared to the past. Cryptocurrencies attempted to change this in 2017 and 2018 with the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom. ICOs allowed ordinary people to invest in projects before they went public, directly connecting entrepreneurs and retail investors. But to be honest, the result was a complete disaster. Due to a lack of regulation, the vast majority of ICOs ultimately proved to be scams. Scammers raised billions of dollars from an unsuspecting public and then absconded with the money. The situation worsened to the point that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had to intervene, even threatening to pursue criminal charges against promoters. The crackdown in 2018 brought an end to the ICO craze and plunged the cryptocurrency market into a long winter. So, what's different now? Most people who experienced the 2017-2018 ICO boom consider it a complete failure, fully exposing the opaque nature of the cryptocurrency space. However, a small minority saw potential in it. Despite the numerous problems with ICOs, they have indeed proven one thing: cryptocurrencies can quickly raise funds for new projects. Compared to the high costs, cumbersome procedures, and tendency to favor the wealthy in traditional IPOs, ICOs are indeed cheaper, faster, and more equitable. Paul Atkins, the current chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is one of those who sees this potential. His support for ICO projects is not surprising: prior to joining the SEC, he served as co-chairman of the Token Alliance, an organization dedicated to promoting innovation in ICO tokens. He also served on the board of Securitize, a company focused on tokenization. In July of this year, Atkins publicly called for the establishment of a new regulatory framework and risk prevention system to create conditions for high-quality ICOs. He argued that as long as the problems of ICO version 1.0 can be solved, we can expect to usher in a capital formation boom led by cryptocurrencies. This Monday, Coinbase took a significant step in this direction by announcing the launch of its ICO platform. From now on, Coinbase will launch one rigorously vetted cryptocurrency project each month. This allows investors to participate in the investment before the project is launched and enables project teams to explore new fundraising channels. Coinbase will enforce strict standards, including team background checks, information disclosure requirements, and ensuring that insiders cannot sell tokens within six months of the project's launch. In short, through self-regulation, they aim to address many of the problems of the 2017-2018 ICO era. My Predictions and Outlook I predict that by 2026, there will be at least six multi-billion dollar ICOs through platforms like Coinbase. While this is still small compared to the traditional IPO market—which saw 176 IPOs in the US in 2024, raising a total of $33 billion—the success of these ICOs will prove that entrepreneurs can indeed raise funds directly from investors, often with better terms than traditional IPOs. As time goes on, I believe more and more projects will choose the direct ICO model instead of traditional financing paths. Regarding how to invest in this topic, I have a few thoughts: If my judgment is correct, the most direct investment target is Coinbase. This company is leveraging its dominant position in the cryptocurrency trading space to expand into new markets. It's not just Charles Schwab in the crypto world, but a combination of Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, and the NYSE. At the same time, a healthy ICO market will also benefit large programmable blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana, as many ICO projects are built on these platforms. On a broader scale, the ICO resurgence will be another significant milestone for the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrencies now have more potential than they did a few years ago because we have the narrative of stablecoins and tokenization. This narrative becomes even more compelling when you add the billions of dollars raised through ICOs. This trend suggests a broader market strategy: for example, investing in index funds that include a basket of crypto assets or crypto stocks. In other words, don't get bogged down in choosing a particular horse, but rather bet that the whole race will get better and better. This match is getting more and more exciting.Author: Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Compiled by: AididioJP, Foresight News A core idea behind investing in cryptocurrencies is that they will reshape the infrastructure of the financial industry. So far, we can cite three areas where real progress has been made: Bitcoin is reshaping gold's role as an inflation hedge. Stablecoins are reshaping the dollar. Tokenization is reshaping trading and settlement. Although these changes are still in their early stages, the trend is already quite clear. I believe that eventually most assets will be tokenized, most US dollars will circulate through stablecoins, and Bitcoin will be as widely accepted as gold. These are trillions of dollars in opportunities, enough to drive a generation-long bull market in the cryptocurrency market. But just this Monday, we saw a fourth important area: capital formation. I believe this will be a key theme in the cryptocurrency space in 2026. Next, I will explain what exactly happened, why this is so important, and how to seize this investment opportunity if my judgment is correct. First, let's review some background. Capital formation is one of the most important functions of the financial sector. Through this process, entrepreneurs are able to raise funds, start new companies, develop products, and create jobs. Unfortunately, the current system is not only rigid and inefficient, but also extremely unfriendly to individual investors. Institutional funds flow to top-tier venture capital firms, which then reinvest in the best startups. These companies remain private for extended periods, continuously accumulating value for early shareholders. When they finally go public, the shares are primarily sold to other institutional investors. Retail investors can only participate in the final stages. This system is costly and regulatoryly complex, resulting in a significantly lower number of IPOs compared to the past. Cryptocurrencies attempted to change this in 2017 and 2018 with the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom. ICOs allowed ordinary people to invest in projects before they went public, directly connecting entrepreneurs and retail investors. But to be honest, the result was a complete disaster. Due to a lack of regulation, the vast majority of ICOs ultimately proved to be scams. Scammers raised billions of dollars from an unsuspecting public and then absconded with the money. The situation worsened to the point that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had to intervene, even threatening to pursue criminal charges against promoters. The crackdown in 2018 brought an end to the ICO craze and plunged the cryptocurrency market into a long winter. So, what's different now? Most people who experienced the 2017-2018 ICO boom consider it a complete failure, fully exposing the opaque nature of the cryptocurrency space. However, a small minority saw potential in it. Despite the numerous problems with ICOs, they have indeed proven one thing: cryptocurrencies can quickly raise funds for new projects. Compared to the high costs, cumbersome procedures, and tendency to favor the wealthy in traditional IPOs, ICOs are indeed cheaper, faster, and more equitable. Paul Atkins, the current chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is one of those who sees this potential. His support for ICO projects is not surprising: prior to joining the SEC, he served as co-chairman of the Token Alliance, an organization dedicated to promoting innovation in ICO tokens. He also served on the board of Securitize, a company focused on tokenization. In July of this year, Atkins publicly called for the establishment of a new regulatory framework and risk prevention system to create conditions for high-quality ICOs. He argued that as long as the problems of ICO version 1.0 can be solved, we can expect to usher in a capital formation boom led by cryptocurrencies. This Monday, Coinbase took a significant step in this direction by announcing the launch of its ICO platform. From now on, Coinbase will launch one rigorously vetted cryptocurrency project each month. This allows investors to participate in the investment before the project is launched and enables project teams to explore new fundraising channels. Coinbase will enforce strict standards, including team background checks, information disclosure requirements, and ensuring that insiders cannot sell tokens within six months of the project's launch. In short, through self-regulation, they aim to address many of the problems of the 2017-2018 ICO era. My Predictions and Outlook I predict that by 2026, there will be at least six multi-billion dollar ICOs through platforms like Coinbase. While this is still small compared to the traditional IPO market—which saw 176 IPOs in the US in 2024, raising a total of $33 billion—the success of these ICOs will prove that entrepreneurs can indeed raise funds directly from investors, often with better terms than traditional IPOs. As time goes on, I believe more and more projects will choose the direct ICO model instead of traditional financing paths. Regarding how to invest in this topic, I have a few thoughts: If my judgment is correct, the most direct investment target is Coinbase. This company is leveraging its dominant position in the cryptocurrency trading space to expand into new markets. It's not just Charles Schwab in the crypto world, but a combination of Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, and the NYSE. At the same time, a healthy ICO market will also benefit large programmable blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana, as many ICO projects are built on these platforms. On a broader scale, the ICO resurgence will be another significant milestone for the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrencies now have more potential than they did a few years ago because we have the narrative of stablecoins and tokenization. This narrative becomes even more compelling when you add the billions of dollars raised through ICOs. This trend suggests a broader market strategy: for example, investing in index funds that include a basket of crypto assets or crypto stocks. In other words, don't get bogged down in choosing a particular horse, but rather bet that the whole race will get better and better. This match is getting more and more exciting.