Wall Street Money Returns to Crypto, Expanding Into Prediction Markets and Tokenized Finance

Wall Street is returning to digital assets with interests extending beyond Bitcoin. Regulated spot exchange-traded funds offer institutions a route into the market, prediction platforms such as Kalshi are evolving into hedging tools, and banks are positioning themselves in stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The shift marks the industry’s transition from retail speculation toward compliant financial infrastructure serving asset managers, hedge funds and banks.

SoSoValue data on May 8, 2026, showed that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs drew nearly $1 billion in a single day and $1.97 billion in April. With support from Jump Trading, Kalshi completed its first institutional block trade. Separately, a16z Crypto raised $2.2 billion, while the Tennessee Bankers Association selected Stablecore to help about 175 member banks adopt stablecoins and tokenized deposits.