DAT company's executives expect "Integration and Mergers & Acquisitions" to become one of the themes by 2026.

On January 2nd, after pushing digital asset reserve strategies into the spotlight and experiencing volatility at the end of the year following the historic 2025, some reserve strategy executives expect that if the regulatory environment continues to improve, 2026 will see industry consolidation, asset diversification, and deeper institutional participation. “Consolidation and M&A will be one of the themes of 2026,” said Tyler Evans. “The market will have a clearer judgment on the winners.” Evans is the Chief Investment Officer of KindlyMD, a Bitcoin reserve company listed on Nasdaq, which transformed into a digital asset reserve institution after merging with Nakamoto Holding Company last August. Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperliquid reserve institution Hyperion DeFi, also believes market consolidation is imminent and pointed out that increasingly strict investors will view digital asset reserve institutions from a new perspective. “The market will continue to scrutinize the core value of digital asset reserve institutions, which ultimately should depend on how they directly promote their ecosystem development through revenue generation,” Jung said. Rudick, Chief Strategy Officer of Upexi, which holds over $250 million in SOL assets, stated that digital asset reserve institutions might experiment with value creation through income generation, new revenue streams, and selective M&A, but he does not expect large-scale consolidation. “I don’t think there will be a lot of M&A among digital asset reserve institutions because sellers lack the motivation to sell below 1x mNAV—they can fully sell assets at market price, and buyers have no reason to acquire digital asset reserves above 1x mNAV because they can buy these assets directly on the market. However, considering that many digital asset reserve institutions trade at significant discounts, I wouldn’t be surprised if aggressive investment funds get involved in such companies in 2026.”