The crypto trade is rising below stricter guidelines as main exchanges form the following cycle round licenses and merchandise constructed to resist regulatory scrutiny.
Quite than chasing explosive progress by way of speculative listings and high-leverage buying and selling, the main target in 2026 is shifting to stronger foundations, resembling tightening fiat currencies, compliant derivatives in additional jurisdictions, and constructing stablecoins and tokenization rails.
Cointelegraph spoke with Haider Rafique, World Managing Accomplice at OKX, to learn the way main exchanges are making ready for the 12 months forward.
OKX has demonstrated ambitions to dominate the sanctioned onshore crypto market. Supply: Haider Rafiq
The alternate has a footprint within the nation
Rafiq mentioned OKX has already accomplished the troublesome a part of getting the regulatory inexperienced gentle to function in nearly all of the areas the corporate is enthusiastic about.
“We anticipate continued regulatory readability in 2026,” he mentioned, “primarily in the USA and hopefully in different components of Europe as nicely.” This may enable OKX to deliver extra derivatives franchises “on land”.
The alternate at the moment operates licensing providers throughout the European Union (EU) from its hub in Malta below the Markets in Crypto Belongings (MiCA) license. It’s also licensed in Dubai, operates a registered entity in Australia, operates a central bank-approved funds enterprise in Singapore, and operates a US platform licensed as a cash transmitter in most states.
Associated: OKX reviews a rise in transactions after coming into the US and EU
It additionally maintains domestically compliant operations in markets resembling Brazil and Turkey, making it, in Rafique’s phrases, “in all probability essentially the most licensed alternate of our measurement on this planet.”
This can be a daring declare, as OKX is just not the one alternate that has been buying licenses not too long ago.
Coinbase holds dozens of licenses and registrations throughout 45 U.S. states and a number of worldwide jurisdictions, and in June secured an EU-wide MiCA license in Luxembourg.
Bybit additionally has MiCA authorization by way of Austria and consent from the United Arab Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority. Binance’s license checklist contains 20 licenses and registrations in varied jurisdictions.
Rafiq mentioned OKX’s job in 2026 is to make sure licensing success by way of localized, “tweaked” merchandise and statutory implementation.
Stablecoins as a brand new money leg
OKX’s first huge structural wager in 2026 might be a stablecoin. The worldwide stablecoin market capitalization has risen to roughly $310 billion by 2025, led by Tether’s USDT and USDC.
Rafiq claimed that exchanges are secretly turning stablecoins into high-yielding monetary merchandise.
“When you put your cash in a financial institution, you are going to lose anyplace from 8% to 40% in a excessive inflation market,” he mentioned, including that capital additionally must be locked in. In distinction, stablecoins enable customers to retailer their cryptocurrencies and earn income with out lockups.
Associated: Binance secures ADGM license to function worldwide platform
As benchmark rates of interest rise into the mid-single digits, yields on high-yielding stablecoins and concentrated “revenue” merchandise have additionally settled within the roughly 4%-8% vary, fairly than the double-digit payouts seen in earlier cycles.
For instance, Paxos’ USDL began in 2024 with an annual yield of round 5%, whereas main exchanges resembling Kraken and OKX are providing the market round 5% rewards on idle USDT and USDC balances.
In keeping with Coin Metrics, stablecoin balances on exchanges rose to file or near-record ranges in 2025, highlighting the shift to yield-plus liquidity merchandise.
Nonetheless, S&P World warned in a 2023 research that stablecoins should not with out threat, as they could be weak to depegging. Tokens are additionally “topic to market volatility, market confidence and adoption, know-how threat, provide and demand, and market liquidity.”
Perceive the foundation explanation for Depeg occasions | Supply: S&P World
Elsewhere, the European Central Financial institution has warned that stablecoins pose a threat to world monetary stability, probably drawing retail deposits away from euro zone banks and triggering the sale of reserve property.
Tokenization, RWA, and the 2026 product slate
Past stablecoins, exchanges are making ready for a wave of tokenization of actual world property (RWA). The marketplace for on-chain tokenized property will develop from lower than $10 billion in 2022 to greater than $19 billion in 2025, and is predicted to achieve $5 trillion by 2030, in response to 21.co analysis.
The RWA market began attracting sustained curiosity from institutional traders in 2025. supply: RWA.xyz
Rafiq mentioned RWA is “in its very early levels” and is awaiting regulatory readability on whether or not tokenized property qualify as utilities or securities. As soon as this distinction is evident, “corporations will take it critically,” and commodities, shares, and metals like gold and silver might be introduced on-chain, wrapped, and made out there for buying and selling on exchanges.
A research by a16z discovered that just about half of Gen Z and Millennials within the US at the moment personal or have traded cryptocurrencies previously 12 months, and for a lot of younger traders, digital property are the equal of direct possession of shares.
For Rafiq, that’s the reason tokenized shares and RWA belong on alternate apps. They’re bringing conventional property to venues that younger customers already deal with as a significant market.
Constructing a much less explosive Bitcoin
Underpinning OKX’s technique is a extra sober view of Bitcoin’s (BTC) future as its main indicators transfer from hype to macroeconomic power. Rafiq mentioned BTC is more and more tied to U.S. Treasury yields, rate of interest expectations, and fairness correlation.
When requested to foretell the worth of Bitcoin in 2026, he mentioned, “Not like different individuals, I am not one to provide you with actually disagreeable numbers.”
His bear marketplace for Bitcoin is round $90,000, however might rise to the $150,000 to $200,000 vary if rates of interest ease and liquidity returns. He dismissed the “excessive bull market” as reckless optimism that misleads retail traders.
“We do not need individuals to lose their shirts,” he says.
This view defines OKX’s product lens for the approaching 12 months, treating cryptocurrencies not as a once-in-a-lifetime lottery ticket, however as a core macro asset that drives steady spot, derivatives, and RWA flows throughout newly licensed markets.
