Crypto IPOs could create massive $1 trillion market amid tokenization wave, Jefferies says

The Wall Street investment bank expects a wave of crypto and blockchain public listings over the next two years as institutional investors shift their focus from speculative trading to real-world financial infrastructure.

What to know:

• Jefferies expects a surge of crypto and blockchain-related public listings over the next two years, projecting the sector could become a $1 trillion public market within five years.
• Institutional investors are shifting focus from bitcoin price speculation to the integration of blockchain infrastructure into core financial systems, including tokenized money market funds, private credit and settlement networks.
• Traditional financial firms are increasingly partnering with crypto-native providers to use blockchain for faster settlement, improved capital efficiency and lower-cost, around-the-clock payments, with stablecoins and tokenized payments seen as key near-term growth areas.

Jefferies said it expects a new wave of crypto and blockchain-related public listings as institutional adoption of digital asset infrastructure accelerates across Wall Street and the payments industry.

In a report published after its first Digital Assets Investor Conference in New York, Jefferies said it expects a surge of crypto-related public listings over the next two years and believes the sector could grow into a $1 trillion public market within five years.

The conference, which gathered executives from 35 digital asset companies alongside roughly 150 institutional investors, focused less on bitcoin price speculation and more on how blockchain systems are increasingly being integrated into traditional finance.

Jefferies said conversations with clients showed investors are becoming more convinced that blockchain technology is moving beyond experimentation and into core financial infrastructure.

“Client engagement continues to grow as focus shifts to emerging beneficiaries as banks, exchanges, asset managers, fintechs and payments companies integrate blockchain infrastructure,” the report said.

The crypto IPO market has slowed this year after a booming 2025 that saw several digital asset firms successfully go public amid rising bitcoin prices and renewed investor appetite for crypto-related stocks. The recent pullback in listings has largely tracked broader market volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty, but another wave of offerings is expected to come later this year with several crypto companies, including Securitize and Payward, the parent company of Kraken, finalizing IPO plans.

Jeffries also pointed to tokenization — the process of representing financial assets on blockchain networks — as one of the biggest drivers behind that shift. Executives at the conference said tokenized money market funds, private credit products and blockchain-based settlement systems are already moving into production following recent regulatory guidance that reduced legal uncertainty around digital assets.

The trend of Wall Street adopting blockchain technology and not focusing on the crypto prices has been a recurring theme in recent months. Giant financial institutions, such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and other traditional Fintech firms, are going all-in on adopting the technology into their business model, regardless of what the price of bitcoin is doing.

In fact, tokenization and stablecoins were the main topics at Consensus Miami this year, overshadowing all other crypto-related discussions. "We’re moving into a world where essentially the entire economy is going to be tokenized,” said Joseph Lubin, CEO and founder of Consensys in Miami.

Jefferies argued that further regulatory clarity could accelerate adoption even more, particularly among heavily 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., saying that the legislation could become "the missing piece" that drives more institutional investments and pushes blockchain-based finance further into the mainstream.

'Tech disruption'

The report also highlighted how traditional financial firms are increasingly partnering with crypto-native infrastructure providers rather than competing directly with them.

Panelists at the conference described a growing ecosystem where banks, trading platforms and payments firms use blockchain networks to reduce settlement times, improve capital efficiency and launch new financial products.

Earlier this year, tokenization firm Securitize partnered with transfer agent Computershare to help public companies issue tokenized shares directly within existing shareholder record systems, while crypto platform Bullish (BLSH), the owner of CoinDesk, agreed to acquire transfer agent Equiniti for $4.2 billion to strengthen its blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

Stablecoins and tokenized payments were repeatedly cited as key areas of near-term growth, especially as payment companies look for ways to lower the cost of cross-border transfers and operate around the clock.

The conference featured executives from firms including Ripple, Kraken, Galaxy (GLXY), Bullish (BLSH) and Consensys.

While institutional adoption was the biggest catalyst when BlackRock first started bitcoin exchange-traded funds, how the adoption would look was among the most talked-about topics back then. Fast forward to today, and it seems these sophisticated investors are viewing the sector as a disruptive technology that can enhance their business model in the long term, rather than short-term speculative trading.

Jefferies said the discussions reflected a broader change in investor attention away from meme coins and speculative trading activity toward blockchain systems generating revenue from trading, payments, lending and tokenized financial products.

“Investors frequently overestimate the magnitude of tech disruption in the near term and underestimate it over the longer term,” the report said.

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