BlockBeats news: On January 22, ARK Invest's latest report, "Big Ideas 2026," pointed out that Bitcoin, DeFi, and the tokenization of real-world assets are transitioning from a "crypto narrative" to functional components of global capital markets and will dominate the industry's development direction after 2026.
The report estimates that the overall size of digital assets could reach $28 trillion by 2030, with Bitcoin accounting for about 70% (approximately $16 trillion). The main driving forces will be the continuous inflow of capital into ETFs and companies incorporating Bitcoin into their balance sheets. Currently, U.S. ETFs and listed companies hold about 12% of the total Bitcoin supply, a significant increase from the beginning of 2025.
ARK also pointed out that the value of DeFi is shifting from the underlying network to the application layer. DeFi applications collectively generated approximately $3.8 billion in revenue in 2025, with some ultra-lightweight protocols approaching or even matching traditional fintech companies in terms of human efficiency and asset management efficiency.
In terms of tokenization, ARK estimates that the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) could reach $11 trillion by 2030. By 2025, the scale of related assets has already grown to approximately $19 billion, benefiting from the on-chain adoption of assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and gold.
Several interviewees emphasized that regulatory clarity will become a decisive factor. Analysis suggests that although technology and business models are rapidly maturing, the implementation of custody, compliance, and investor protection regulations will determine whether Bitcoin, DeFi, and tokenized assets can achieve true large-scale mainstream adoption.