If you've ever wondered how digital coins could move from a trading app into your retirement portfolio or how energy-intensive the process is, Wall Street says the answer comes down to paperwork in Washington.
In 2024, U.S. regulators approved the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. This means traditional investors can join exchanges without directly holding digital tokens, according to CoinDesk. In 2026, analysts at Goldman Sachs said clearer rules and regulations for cryptocurrencies would push the industry forward.
In the CoinDesk report, analysts said that improving regulation offers a more constructive outlook for crypto, specifically for infrastructure companies that support ecosystem growth.
"We see the improving regulatory backdrop as a key driver to continued institutional crypto adoption, especially for buyside and sellside financial firms, as well [as] new use cases for crypto developing beyond trading," the analysts, led by James Yaro, wrote, as cited by CoinDesk.
Goldman Sachs said draft U.S. market structure legislation circulating in Congress could clarify how tokenized assets and decentralized financial projects are regulated and "define the roles" of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, per CoinDesk.
Goldman's own survey data found that 35% of institutions cite regulatory uncertainty as the biggest hurdle to adopting crypto assets and related investments. Institutional asset managers have invested about 7% of assets under management in crypto, though 71% say they plan to increase exposure over the next year.
While all of this is happening, crypto's environmental footprint remains a point of debate.
For example, during halving events when the reward for mining crypto is reduced by 50%, mining competition tends to intensify along with energy use and pollution tied to power grids. However, Ethereum's shift to a proof-of-stake system, known as "the merge," reduced the network's energy consumption by more than 99.95%, per the Ethereum Foundation.
For everyday people, clearer rules could mean new tools tied to tokenization and stablecoins, per Goldman's analysis. For the environment, the outcome depends on how the industry evolves.
Learning more about how mining systems (whether energy-intensive or renewable energy-integrated) affect critical climate issues could help individuals understand where they should invest.
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