How Capital Really Moves Into Crypto in 2026

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- Serious investors are prioritizing tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, institutional trading systems, and AI-linked compute networks. - Allocators still face major friction around custody, banking access, compliance, legal structure, due diligence, and internal reputation risk. - Platforms like Arcanum aim to support capital entry through investor control, real-time reporting, documented strategies, and exchange-based fund access. In an exclusive interview with BeInCrypto during Hong Kong Web3 Festival, Michael Ivanov, CEO of Arcanum, Ciara Sun, founder and managing partner of C² Ventures, and Ivan Ivanov, founder of UVECON.VC and RWA SUMMIT, discussed how capital enters crypto in 2026. The conversation covered family offices, allocator demand, operational friction, tokenized real-world assets, and the trust gap still slowing institutional participation. Let’s open up the topics. What Serious Investors Want in 2026 BeInCrypto: What does the capital journey into crypto look like from your side of the market? Michael Ivanov: It is a thorny road full of rocks and holes. Ciara Sun: A few years ago, many investors entered crypto mainly for exposure and upside. Today, they are looking for real demand and a better understanding of how liquidity works. BeInCrypto: What kind of crypto opportunities are serious investors looking for in 2026? Ciara Sun: Serious investors in 2026 are looking at sectors where crypto solves real problems rather than creating new narratives. From my experience in exchanges and venture investing, the strongest interest is around tokenization, stablecoins, institutional trading systems, and the intersection of AI, compute, and energy. BeInCrypto: Ivan, what types of capital are showing the most interest now? Ivan Ivanov: It depends on which kind of crypto you mean. We should separate BTC, ETH, altcoins, and tokenized real-world assets. It also depends on the region. I am based in Hong Kong, so I am familiar with the Asian market. Family offices here are quite conservative when it comes to digital assets. One of the largest Asian multi-family offices says less than 5% of the capital its clients invest is allocated to crypto, and most of that goes into BTC, ETH, and ETFs. Funds are a different story. The most active are hedge funds focused on crypto asset management. Investors usually select those that are licensed and well known in the market. Institutions are definitely interested in digital asset investments, but they remain cautious. Tokenized RWAs will lead over the next couple of years because they are regulated, have substance, and are protected by law. What Happens When Capital Enters a Platform Like Arcanum BeInCrypto: When a family office allocates into a platform like Arcanum, what actually happens operationally? Michael Ivanov: Every user, retail or institutional, can run our product with ease. With Pulse, the user adds API keys to our Telegram Mini App, and the process is done. We do not ask offices to sign unnecessary documents to use our products. For clients who want to delegate full control of funds to Arcanum, we accept two main structures. The first is a license agreement with proper profit-sharing terms. The second is a joint company for operating the required amount of capital. With this type of client, flexibility is essential. What Gives Investors Confidence BeInCrypto: What gives investors enough confidence to deploy capital into crypto today? Ciara Sun: Investors need proof that the team can execute with discipline. Confidence usually comes from real traction, clean token and cap table design, and a path to liquidity or revenue. The right question for investors is whether the team can survive, manage risk, and continue growing when the cycle turns. BeInCrypto: Ivan, what makes a crypto project investable for allocators? Ivan Ivanov: Substance, track record, the right legal structure, and protected investor rights. The times of ICOs are gone. The market now looks much closer to traditional finance and venture capital. How Arcanum Helps Allocators Enter Crypto BeInCrypto: How does Arcanum help allocators and investors enter crypto more efficiently? Michael Ivanov: We provide clear strategies and methodologies where the key points are simple. With Pulse, there is strong historical data for potential profit, an almost fully automated process, and real-time tracking. It gives clarity. Pulse runs on Bybit subaccounts controlled by allocators, so the money always remains in their hands. Users can access it at any time. The next step is a wider ecosystem with our own broker, new algorithms such as Wave, our own terminal with lower commissions, and early access to new products. We give investors an easy entry point through one of the largest exchanges, with an ecosystem designed to keep them active after that. Where Capital Gets Stuck BeInCrypto: Where does capital get stuck between investor interest and actual deployment? Michael Ivanov: For projects like ours, there are four main blockers: custody, mandate, due diligence, and sizing. Custody is a challenge because institutions will not hand assets to a counterparty they cannot audit. Mandate is another issue because many funds simply do not have a crypto allocation category, and adding one can take months. Due diligence is also difficult because many crypto products fail institutional review when the strategy is poorly documented or lacks independent validation. Sizing is the final barrier. Without a clear risk model, allocators cannot decide how much capital to deploy. BeInCrypto: Ivan, what is the hardest part for allocators bringing traditional capital into crypto? Ivan Ivanov: Compliance, for sure, and the reliability of the systems around it. Recent DeFi exploits damaged trust. Centralized exchanges and providers look more reliable, especially when they are licensed. Traditional banks are also a barrier. Dealing with crypto assets remains a serious issue for any company. Try to open a bank account in Hong Kong and say you want to invest company funds in crypto. You will likely be rejected, even if you work with licensed providers. The key issues are banking, investor protection, and compliance. BeInCrypto: Ciara, where do strong crypto projects still lose investor confidence? Ciara Sun: Details. The idea may be strong, but confidence weakens when the token design is unclear, the go-to-market plan is vague, or the team cannot explain how liquidity, revenue, and risk will be managed. Why Platforms Like Arcanum Interest Allocators BeInCrypto: Why can platforms like Arcanum be interesting for allocators in the current market? Ivan Ivanov: The track record is key. Arcanum also works with one of the market leaders, Bybit, and has official partner status. If Arcanum can build the right compliant setup with strong security, privacy, investor protection, and a good market reputation, capital will flow in. BeInCrypto: Ciara, would you view a platform like Arcanum as access, capital management, or market technology? Ciara Sun: To me, Arcanum is both access and technology. It gives users a simpler way to access trading strategies through trading bot services, while also sitting on top of execution and risk management. Traders care a lot about risk management and transparency, aside from profits. BeInCrypto: Michael, how do you position Arcanum for B2B partners, allocators, and private investors? Michael Ivanov: I do not think positioning is the right word. Each audience has a different problem we work with. B2B partners can use a white-label model that helps them reduce the cost of running their own branded product. Allocators get clear real-time statistics and instant fund management. Private investors get the product as well as access to a warm community of traders we work with. Control, Reporting, and Transparency BeInCrypto: How does Arcanum handle control, reporting, and transparency for investors? Michael Ivanov: For us, this is quite simple. Part of it is solved by architecture, and part of it is solved by UX. In the base scenario, clients have full control over their funds on their own exchange subaccounts. Arcanum operates and monitors the strategy through its solutions. We sit above the exchange with intuitive functionality. Transparency is where we put the most effort, because this is where crypto products often fail institutional review. We provide a clear history of every trade and documented strategy data. BeInCrypto: Ciara, how important is operational transparency when investors assess crypto opportunities? Ciara Sun: Very important. In crypto, investors can accept risk, but they cannot accept a black box. Transparency turns performance into trust. Investors want to know where the money is, how decisions are made, what risks are being taken, and whether the numbers can be verified. BeInCrypto: Ivan, what do family offices still need to understand before they feel comfortable allocating? Ivan Ivanov: They need to understand how they are protected legally and make sure everything is structured properly. The Most Expensive Blocker BeInCrypto: What is the most expensive blocker for institutional capital entering crypto today? Michael Ivanov: The most expensive blocker is reputational inside the institution itself. Every allocation has to go through boards and committees. There is still limited trust in information from crypto projects, especially with new projects and strategies. Even when interest is real, no one wants to be the first person to stake their reputation on it. The cost is huge but invisible. It shows up as deals that never close and allocations that keep getting pushed to the next quarter. BeInCrypto: Ciara, what is the biggest hidden cost for serious investors entering the market? Ciara Sun: The biggest hidden cost is the operational burden behind every decision. Serious investors need custody, compliance, reporting, risk control, liquidity planning, and sometimes token unlock management. Many people underestimate this part. BeInCrypto: Ivan, what needs to change for allocators to move capital faster? Ivan Ivanov: Banking infrastructure, for sure. With the latest regulations in multiple jurisdictions, I believe regulated and compliant stablecoin systems will solve many issues. Where Demand Goes Next BeInCrypto: Which crypto sectors are most likely to attract serious capital in 2026? Ciara Sun: Serious capital in 2026 will go to sectors where crypto becomes real financial or operating technology. The main areas are tokenization, stablecoins, institutional trading and liquidity systems, and AI-related compute and energy networks. BeInCrypto: Ivan, where do you expect the strongest allocator demand over the next year? Ivan Ivanov: Definitely tokenized RWAs. This is where traditional investors will follow banks and institutions. BeInCrypto: Michael, where do you expect Arcanum’s strongest demand to come from? Michael Ivanov: We expect the strongest demand to come from Asian allocators and funds of funds. They have already been active in crypto for a while, and they are used to putting part of their capital with quant trading funds running different strategies. What we build fits a workflow they already understand. In the US, even with anticipated legislation, the picture still lacks enough transparency for decisions at that level to happen at size. Asia is further along in the process. Trust Comes First BeInCrypto: What needs to improve first for more capital to enter crypto? Ivan Ivanov: Trust in the crypto market and market players. There are still too many bad actors. Ciara Sun: Trust. More capital will enter when crypto has better transparency, cleaner risk management, and more reliable systems around custody, compliance, liquidity, and reporting. What needs to improve is the confidence that capital can enter, operate, and exit safely. Michael Ivanov: Trust is the new gold in crypto. We still need to earn it, even when the whole project is clear and transparent.

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