The crypto industry is growing under stricter rules as major exchanges shape the next cycle around licenses and products built to withstand regulatory scrutiny.
Rather than chasing explosive growth through speculative listings and high-leverage trading, the focus in 2026 is shifting to stronger foundations, such as tightening fiat currencies, compliant derivatives in more jurisdictions, and building stablecoins and tokenization rails.
Cointelegraph spoke with Haider Rafique, Global Managing Partner at OKX, to find out how major exchanges are preparing for the year ahead.
OKX has demonstrated ambitions to dominate the sanctioned onshore crypto market. Source: Haider Rafiq
The exchange has a footprint in the country
Rafiq said OKX has already completed the difficult part of getting the regulatory green light to operate in almost all the regions the company is interested in.
“We expect continued regulatory clarity in 2026,” he said, “mainly in the United States and hopefully in other parts of Europe as well.” This will allow OKX to bring more derivatives franchises “on land”.
The exchange currently operates licensing services across the European Union (EU) from its hub in Malta under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license. It is also licensed in Dubai, operates a registered entity in Australia, operates a central bank-approved payments business in Singapore, and operates a US platform licensed as a money transmitter in most states.
Related: OKX reports an increase in transactions after entering the US and EU
It also maintains locally compliant operations in markets such as Brazil and Turkey, making it, in Rafique’s words, “probably the most licensed exchange of our size in the world.”
This is a bold claim, as OKX is not the only exchange that has been acquiring licenses recently.
Coinbase holds dozens of licenses and registrations across 45 U.S. states and multiple international jurisdictions, and in June secured an EU-wide MiCA license in Luxembourg.
Bybit also has MiCA authorization via Austria and consent from the United Arab Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority. Binance’s license list includes 20 licenses and registrations in various jurisdictions.
Rafiq said OKX’s job in 2026 is to ensure licensing success through localized, “tweaked” products and statutory implementation.
Stablecoins as a new cash leg
OKX’s first big structural bet in 2026 will be a stablecoin. The global stablecoin market capitalization has risen to approximately $310 billion by 2025, led by Tether’s USDT and USDC.
Rafiq claimed that exchanges are secretly turning stablecoins into high-yielding financial products.
“If you put your money in a bank, you’re going to lose anywhere from 8% to 40% in a high inflation market,” he said, adding that capital also needs to be locked in. In contrast, stablecoins allow users to store their cryptocurrencies and earn revenue without lockups.
Related: Binance secures ADGM license to operate international platform
As benchmark interest rates rise into the mid-single digits, yields on high-yielding stablecoins and concentrated “income” products have also settled in the roughly 4%-8% range, rather than the double-digit payouts seen in earlier cycles.
For example, Paxos’ USDL started in 2024 with an annual yield of around 5%, while major exchanges such as Kraken and OKX are offering the market around 5% rewards on idle USDT and USDC balances.
According to Coin Metrics, stablecoin balances on exchanges rose to record or near-record levels in 2025, highlighting the shift to yield-plus liquidity products.
Still, S&P Global warned in a 2023 study that stablecoins are not without risk, as they may be vulnerable to depegging. Tokens are also “subject to market volatility, market confidence and adoption, technology risk, supply and demand, and market liquidity.”
Understand the root cause of Depeg events | Source: S&P Global
Elsewhere, the European Central Bank has warned that stablecoins pose a risk to global financial stability, potentially drawing retail deposits away from euro zone banks and triggering the sale of reserve assets.
Tokenization, RWA, and the 2026 product slate
Beyond stablecoins, exchanges are preparing for a wave of tokenization of real world assets (RWA). The market for on-chain tokenized assets will grow from less than $10 billion in 2022 to more than $19 billion in 2025, and is predicted to reach $5 trillion by 2030, according to 21.co research.
The RWA market started attracting sustained interest from institutional investors in 2025. source: RWA.xyz
Rafiq said RWA is “in its very early stages” and is awaiting regulatory clarity on whether tokenized assets qualify as utilities or securities. Once this distinction is clear, “companies will take it seriously,” and commodities, stocks, and metals like gold and silver will be brought on-chain, wrapped, and made available for trading on exchanges.
A survey by a16z found that nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials in the US currently own or have traded cryptocurrencies in the past year, and for many young investors, digital assets are the equivalent of direct stock ownership.
For Rafiq, that is why tokenized stocks and RWA belong on exchange apps. They are bringing traditional assets to venues that young users already treat as a major market.
Building a less explosive Bitcoin
Underpinning OKX’s strategy is a more sober view of Bitcoin’s (BTC) future as its leading indicators move from hype to macroeconomic force. Rafiq said BTC is increasingly tied to U.S. Treasury yields, interest rate expectations, and equity correlation.
When asked to predict the price of Bitcoin in 2026, he said, “Unlike other people, I’m not one to come up with really unpleasant numbers.”
His bear market for Bitcoin is around $90,000, but could rise to the $150,000 to $200,000 range if interest rates ease and liquidity returns. He dismissed the “extreme bull market” as reckless optimism that misleads retail investors.
“We don’t want people to lose their shirts,” he says.
This view defines OKX’s product lens for the coming year, treating cryptocurrencies not as a once-in-a-lifetime lottery ticket, but as a core macro asset that drives stable spot, derivatives, and RWA flows across newly licensed markets.
