I'm paying attention to Keyrock CEO Kevin de Patoul, who says that Bitcoin is still undervalued. Considering macro uncertainties and institutional progress, he states that BTC should be trading at much higher levels, but the market still prices it as a risk asset.

Bitcoin has been under pressure for the past nine months. It has fallen about 18% since the beginning of the year and has moved away from its all-time high of around $126,000 reached in early October. It is still trading around $73,000. There doesn't seem to be a real reason explaining this decline — or there is a deep misunderstanding about what kind of asset crypto assets are.

According to De Patoul's observations, two different markets are developing in parallel here. The first is the crypto-specific ecosystem: DeFi, altcoins, liquidity, and hype cycles. This area has quieted down. The broad waves that once lifted all tokens have given way to more selective, sensitive opportunities.

The second is the digitization of traditional finance. Tokenized money market funds, stablecoins, on-chain funds, and new infrastructures. Institutional enthusiasm has not diminished here. Banks, asset managers, issuers — all continue building. The IPO of Circle, partnerships like Apollo's with Morpho, reflect long-term commitments.

But there is a paradox here. Funds have been tokenized. Infrastructure has been built. Yet liquidity remains weak. Tokens mostly serve as wrappers, not as truly transformative tools. The question is: where can these tokens be used? Who accepts them? Can they function as collateral? Can they provide scaled liquidity?

Traditional capital markets are many times larger than crypto. Moving a small percentage onto the chain could overshadow crypto's previous peaks. De Patoul sees 2027 and 2028 as real turning points. RWAs — real-world assets — could be as big as all previous crypto peaks combined in those years.

2026 is not a year of explosion but a transition year. The pieces are in place but not yet assembled. Liquidity has not reached scale. Use cases are not fully functional. That’s why the foundations are being laid, but scale has not yet arrived. Regulatory uncertainty remains the biggest obstacle — the timing of the Clarity Act is critical. If it is delayed by two years, institutional investments will be seriously affected.

Keyrock's strategy is to strengthen this bridging role. It was founded eight years ago with the thesis that all assets would eventually be digital and on-chain. Now it is positioning itself between traditional and digital finance. In September, it launched its Asset Management division. The goal is to move from tokenization to functionality — to make digital assets truly useful at scale.

In the short term, price movements may not be inspiring. But this quietly built digital market infrastructure is a much more significant development than a short-term rally. Foundations are being laid. Scale will come soon.