The Chaotic Reconstruction of Crypto Order: Where Will the Next Wave of Liquidity Come From?

In the current liquidity-scarce environment, the crypto market's thirst for funds continues to intensify.

So, where might the next wave of funding come from?

This month, Charles Schwab Corporation (Schwab), a US financial giant managing over $11 trillion in assets, announced its entry into the cryptocurrency market, planning to launch cryptocurrency trading services in the first half of 2026. Its CEO, Rick Wurster, stated that the company has completed regulatory and technical assessments.

Founded in 1971, Schwab is a large US financial services company with a wide range of businesses including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, brokerage trading services, bank savings, investment advisory, wealth management, retirement plans, and more, managing trillions of dollars in client assets.

In the third quarter of this year, Charles Schwab's net new assets reached $134.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 48%, exceeding analysts' expectations of $130.2 billion. Schwab manages a vast amount of assets and is deeply rooted in the traditional financial system, possessing a large customer base. The increased investment by traditional brokerages and financial platforms like Schwab signifies that crypto assets are moving towards mainstream platforms and may subsequently reach more "traditional investors." The platform's statement that it has "completed regulatory and technical assessments and is preparing to launch crypto trading services" signals the establishment of a standardized channel and a lowering of the adoption threshold. Considering its customer base (including conservative investors, high-net-worth clients, and wealth management clients) and the size of its funds, this could open up more pathways for traditional assets to be allocated to crypto assets. This is not an isolated event, nor does it foreshadow collective action by traditional financial giants. For example: Other brokers (such as Fidelity and Vanguard): This is a market size of trillions of dollars (total AUM exceeding 10 trillion). For instance, Fidelity also expects to expand its crypto services in 2026. Banks and custody services (such as Standard Chartered): Potential institutional custody demand is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. We see that Standard Chartered also expects to launch BTC custody in January 2026, attracting bank-grade funds. More ETFs and index funds: With more ETFs approved, there may be hundreds of billions of dollars of room for growth on top of existing ETFs. Meanwhile, platforms like Schwab may further amplify retail inflows. Pension and corporate funds: Hundreds of billions of dollars (IRA/401k accounts, individual retirement accounts, and employer-provided retirement plans). Given a mature market, these conservative funds may indirectly access the crypto market through platforms like Schwab. Charles Schwab has stated regarding the crypto market, "We have achieved tremendous success in the cryptocurrency space," reflecting the maturing institutional acceptance of crypto assets. Total inflows are projected to reach trillions of dollars after 2026, driving the market from institutional dominance to broader adoption. Subsequently, more brokers, banks, and sovereign wealth funds may follow suit with services in crypto trading. What stage is the crypto market currently in? In the current event-heavy cycle, market expectations for future price movements are increasingly divergent. The current total market capitalization of the crypto market is approximately $3.02 trillion, but institutional adoption signals are still emerging, and an improved macroeconomic environment is expected to further inject liquidity. In the medium to long term, the gradual deployment by these large institutions often has a multiplier effect in the later stages. The market still needs time to digest this. Earlier this year, with the implementation of three major bills, regulation, institutions, and compliance were all in place simultaneously. However, it seems that we are still in a period of disorder or a phase of order reconstruction. On the other hand, the "golden period of user growth" for centralized exchanges (CEXs) seems to have peaked. More and more choices have emerged in the market: ETFs, traditional brokerage channels, institutional subscription purchases, listed companies hoarding coins, bank crypto services, etc. The previous situation of "scarcity of entry points, lack of regulation, and concentrated traffic" has changed. The entry of ETFs, securities firms, and banks signifies a diversion of new crypto users. This reflects not competition, but a paradigm shift: crypto finance is moving from its nascent stage to a mature structure dominated by compliance and institutions. ETFs and traditional securities firms may capture the majority of new crypto users in the future. From another perspective, this year can also be seen as the first year of formal acceptance of the crypto market by traditional finance, and perhaps the starting point of the first cycle after the reshaping of the liquidity cycle.