Crypto Networks Are ‘Borderless, Adoption Is Not’: PwC

Crypto adoption is growing at different rates around the world, with some regions advancing much faster than others, says accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

“While crypto networks are borderless, adoption is not,” PwC said in its Global Crypto Regulation Report 2026. “Payments, remittances, savings, capital markets, and tokenization use cases are emerging unevenly across regions.”

PwC said that crypto adoption still depends on economic conditions, financial inclusion, and existing financial infrastructure, leading to a “fragmented global ecosystem” where the technology solves “very different problems” across different markets.

The report comes as the adoption of blockchain and crypto has accelerated in the US, as a crypto-friendly Trump administration has given institutions confidence to launch products tied to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

Crypto institutional interest past the point of no return

Meanwhile, PwC said that institutional interest in crypto has “crossed the point of reversibility.”

“Banks, asset managers, payment providers, and large corporates are embedding digital assets into core infrastructure, balance sheets, and operating models,” PwC said. “This is no longer optional or peripheral.”

While the Trump administration has worked to pass crypto regulations into law, some analysts worry that a future administration that isn’t as pro-crypto could sway institutional sentiment.

On Wednesday, CryptoQuant Ki Young Ju pointed to the 577,000 Bitcoin (BTC) that institutional funds have scooped up over the past year, which is equivalent to roughly $53 billion.

“Institutional demand for Bitcoin remains strong,” he said.

PwC said that as institutions commit to crypto, “they reshape market norms around scale, governance, resilience, and accountability, displacing crypto-native practices with institutional ones.”

Institutions unlikely to push prices as high as hoped

While institutional interest in crypto is rising, some analysts don’t expect it to move prices as much as the market hopes.

Related: Bitcoin diamond hand BTC selling not ‘repeat of 2017, 2021,’ research warns

Macro researcher and FFTT founder Luke Gromen said that institutional investors aren’t likely to be the ones to push Bitcoin to new highs this year without a market-moving event.

“If you’re counting on institutional investors to run it from you know 90 to you know 150, if that’s your plan, that’s probably not going to happen without some major catalyst,” Gromen said on Wednesday.

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