5 Innovative Ways to Invest in Crypto in 2026

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Major asset manager Grayscale has stated that 2026 will be “the dawn of the institutional era” for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. 

Roughly 30% of Americans now own crypto, while approximately 165 public companies hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets or in their treasuries. Moreover, Bitcoin ETFs alone have over $116 billion in AUM. Further regulatory clarity is likely to accelerate crypto adoption to levels beyond imagination.

Pro-crypto frameworks like the GENIUS Act are setting the stage for increased legal protection for crypto investors. As a result, it is no secret that global capital is moving towards blockchain-based scarce assets.

Meanwhile, the race is on to make the perfect financial instrument or product for institutional investors. The whole situation is now unrecognizable from around 18 months ago, with additions like confidential smart contracts, AI-native payment rails, and tokenized treasury products. 

Here are five breakthrough products that are changing how big capital is entering the crypto markets:

1. Gems Trade Baskets

Portfolio management is one of the hardest tasks in crypto and can get cumbersome with time. Investors have to research dozens of promising tokens, manage access between centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges, and track derivative positions across multiple wallets. A professional, dedicated trading infrastructure is the need of the hour, as market dynamics become increasingly complex. 

In December 2025, Gems Trade, a European MiCA-compliant digital asset exchange, launched its Basket feature, combining entire trading flows into a single transaction. It allows investors to buy curated collections, like Layer-1s, memecoin indices, Web3 infrastructure, decentralized finance, and Layer-2s, in a single click by bundling the trading flow into one transaction. 

This isn’t just price exposure, as users actually own the assets in their Gems Trade wallet. Each asset is stored using institutional-grade custody through an integration between Fireblocks and Chainanalysis. 

Omri Hanover, head of Project at Gems Trade, shared: “Baskets eliminate the operational friction while preserving actual asset ownership. Traders shouldn’t need to become full-time researchers and portfolio managers just to gain sector exposure.”

2. JPMorgan’s Kinexys

While some banks have entered the highly competitive crypto ETF and treasury markets, JPMorgan has taken a more exclusive approach through its Kinexys brand. The system aims to save hours lost due to manual processes and wire transfers, enabling real-time tri-party settlement in the private equity and private credit markets.

Through the Kinexys brand, JPMorgan aims to attract institutional investors with its blockchain-based platform that enables 24/7 settlement of private instruments.  Access is restricted, with eligible participants using a tokenized investor register that supports real-time visibility and automated workflows. 

3. Solana & x402

AI agents face challenges when they’re forced to use traditional payment rails that charge $0.30 per 1-cent API call. To combat this, Coinbase developed the x402 protocol, which runs on Solana as the primary layer-1 network. It enables AI agents to access and purchase data without relying on traditional payment rails or subscription models. 

Coinbase’s x402 is an open, chain-agnostic standard that uses HTTP 402 “Payment Required” responses as a signal to pay, allowing an app or AI agent to pay instantly and continue the request. If Sloana’s upcoming Apenglow upgrade delivers faster finality, these payments could settle even faster. The result is machine-speed transactions without manual steps or traditional payment rails.

4. Fidelity’s On-Chain Treasury Bills

Fidelity entered tokenization treasures with the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYOXX), launched in September 2025. The fund holds only U.S. Treasury instruments and cash, with an on-chain share class (FDIT) issued on Ethereum and custody handled by Bank of New York Mellon.

As of late January 2026, FYOXX reported a 3.5% 7-day yield, with over $200 million in net assets, making it an appealing option for DeFi firms seeking reliable, low-risk collateral. Fidelity’s move demonstrates how tokenizing traditional assets, such as treasuries and bonds, can accelerate growth in the digital asset economy. 

5. XTrends’ Tokenized Social Momentum

Crypto markets have always been driven by attention, but tokens built mainly on celebrities, memes, or viral buzz typically crash once interest fades. The problem is launch-time extraction, as snipers and bots drain liquidity immediately, killing projects within minutes and damaging creators’ reputations. 

XTrends aims to turn social momentum into investable assets. Trends, often born on social platforms like X, can be registered and minted as NFTs, allowing users to speculate on where attention is heading without chasing bot-stripped token launches. XTrends is built to curb bot-driven extraction, with launch mechanics that discourage non-human ‘sniping’ and spread early activity more evenly. 

Through XTrends, creators primarily earn revenue from a 1% trading fee, aligning incentives with sustained engagement. In a 2025 pilot, the team reports that 28 launches generated $140M in volume with no marketing spend. As influencer and celebrity crypto evolves, XTrends is positioning itself to monetize attention without the pitfalls that have made early social tokens short-lived. 

Blockchain Solutions: One Problem at a Time

These five products address real constraints that have built up over time. As institutions become more involved in the digital financial market, they need tools that closely align with their workflows and risk requirements. Tokenized cash and credit, one-click diversified basets, privacy-preserving on-chain execution, and tokenized treasuries are some of the building blocks that can help move DeFi into its next phase.