Citywealth Quick Insight Series on Digital Assets Trends – Mateusz Kara, Ari10 Group

Date: 15 Apr 2026

Karen Jones

This week’s Citywealth Quick Insight Series on Digital Assets Trends is dedicated to Mateusz Kara, CEO of Ari10 Group.

What’s your current assessment of the digital asset market, and how is macroeconomic or regulatory uncertainty affecting sentiment among private wealth clients?

The digital asset market has entered 2026 in a consolidation phase following an extraordinary 2025. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $126,210 in October 2025 before retracing – it’s currently trading around $91,000, down approximately 28% from that peak but still representing substantial gains over the past two years.

In conversations with wealth advisors across Central Europe, we’ve noticed a clear shift in tone. The questions have evolved from “should my clients have crypto exposure?” to “how much and through whom?” That evolution reflects the market’s maturation; digital assets are no longer a fringe curiosity but a legitimate allocation consideration.

The regulatory picture has clarified significantly. The passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025 brought payment stablecoins under the Bank Secrecy Act in the United States, while the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act continues to define asset classifications.

For businesses navigating this environment, infrastructure providers with established regulatory frameworks offer operational continuity. ARI10’s infrastructure supports stablecoin transactions including USDC, enabling enterprises to benefit from efficient settlement within a compliant framework.

How are recent policy changes in the U.S., EU, or Asia influencing crypto adoption or caution in the private client space?

2025 was a landmark year for crypto regulation, and 2026 is when enforcement truly begins.

The European Union’s MiCA regulation is now fully operational across all 27 member states, with national competent authorities shifting from onboarding to active supervision. The transitional period ends on July 1, 2026; companies that haven’t obtained authorisation by then must cease providing regulated services in the EU.

The impact has been immediate. Since MiCA’s full implementation, we’ve seen a notable increase in inquiries from wealth managers across Germany, France, and the Benelux region who previously avoided the space entirely. The common refrain we hear: “MiCA gave us permission to take this seriously.” Regulatory clarity, it turns out, was the missing ingredient for many institutional players.

In the United States, the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, mandates comprehensive AML and sanctions compliance for stablecoin issuers, including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and OFAC screening.

ARI10 announced lately that the CASP license was granted by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) to WEB3 Technology B.V., making this company fully authorised to operate across the entire European Union. Securing that is the natural culmination of our journey, building on eight years of regulatory experience in Poland. 

With the July 2026 deadline approaching, this licensing positions us to serve businesses across the EU within MiCA’s consistent framework, something that’s become a prerequisite rather than a differentiator.

What role are digital assets currently playing in the portfolios of HNWIs and family offices – speculative, hedging, or strategic?

The data tells a compelling story. According to the Coinbase 2025 State of Crypto Report, 83% of institutional investors plan to increase their cryptocurrency exposure, while 76% intend to invest in tokenised assets by 2026.

Institutional sentiment has shifted dramatically. In 2024, more than 70% of institutional asset managers reported having exposure to digital assets, compared to less than 10% in 2020. The structural change is unmistakable.

We’ve seen this evolution firsthand with our business clients. Companies that initially approached us to convert one-off crypto payments, often received from international partners and treated as curiosities, have gradually expanded their use cases. Many now maintain stablecoin treasury positions for cross-border payments, citing significant settlement time improvements compared to traditional wire transfers. What started as “let’s just get rid of this Bitcoin” has become “how can we use stablecoins operationally?”

For family offices seeking exposure, ARI10 Exchange enables institutional clients to convert between crypto-assets and traditional currencies, PLN, EUR, and USD. Digital asset investments carry inherent volatility, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

How are wealth managers integrating crypto and blockchain-based products into diversified portfolios for their clients?

The spot Bitcoin ETF story has been remarkable. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs peaked at $169.54 billion in AUM on October 6, 2025, coinciding with Bitcoin’s all-time high. Despite the subsequent correction, cumulative net inflows since launch have exceeded $57 billion, demonstrating sustained institutional demand.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) dominates the market with approximately $74 billion in AUM, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $18.89 billion and Grayscale’s GBTC at $16.4 billion. The top five products control 96.6% of the entire market.

For European wealth managers, the picture is different. While ETPs have existed longer here, MiCA’s implementation has shifted focus toward direct relationships with licensed infrastructure providers. The feedback we consistently hear ETFs solve custody and reporting, but wealth managers still need partners for clients who want to actually use crypto, for transactions, treasury management, or operational purposes. That’s a gap packaged products can’t fill.

The integration process now mirrors traditional alternatives: due diligence on counterparty risk, custody arrangements, regulatory status, and operational resilience.

Are there specific tokens, protocols, or segments (DeFi, stablecoins, real-world assets) that you see gaining traction among private investors in 2025?

Stablecoins have been the breakout story. The total stablecoin market capitalisation more than doubled between January 2023 and January 2026, reaching $308.55 billion, reflecting an explosion of institutional buy-in for the asset class. 

The volume of transactions in USDC and USDT stablecoins alone in 2024 exceeded $23 trillion – more than the annual transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard combined. This shows that stablecoins are not just a tool for speculation; they are a real payment tool used on a massive scale. In September 2025 alone, the market reached $300 billion, a 75% increase from a year earlier. The market has been adding approximately $11 billion per month.

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation has attracted serious institutional attention. The total market capitalisation of tokenised RWAs has surpassed $21 billion, with tokenised US Treasuries representing the largest share at nearly $9 billion. The sector is projected to reach $9.43 trillion by 2030.

The practical applications we’re seeing among our clients typically involve cross-border transactions. Companies transacting with suppliers in multiple currencies across several countries can use stablecoin settlement to reduce FX conversion costs significantly and cut settlement times from days to same day. That’s operational efficiency, solving real business problems.

ARI10 facilitates stablecoin usage for business enterprises through our On-Ramp Gateway service, enabling companies to integrate cryptocurrency transaction capabilities within a compliant infrastructure.

What are the key risks private clients should be aware of in crypto markets—and how can advisors mitigate them?

Let me be direct: digital assets remain volatile. Bitcoin dropped 28% from its October 2025 peak of $126,210 to current levels around $91,000. Even during bull markets, 20-30% corrections occur regularly.

Counterparty risk became painfully real for many in 2022. The collapse of FTX resulted in approximately $8 billion in customer losses, a stark reminder that exchange selection matters enormously.

The prudent approach we’ve seen institutional clients adopt post-2022 typically includes concentration limits, no single exchange or custodian holding more than a set percentage of digital asset exposure, and strict requirements that all providers hold valid regulatory licenses in their operating jurisdictions. It’s not foolproof, but it’s sound risk management.

Regulatory risk is evolving rather than diminishing. With MiCA enforcement ramping up and the July 2026 deadline approaching, CASPs operating without proper authorisation face existential risk. The SEC and CFTC continue to shape how tokenised and decentralised products are assessed.

ARI10 was built with compliance as a foundational principle. That, combined with eight years of regulatory experience in Poland, reflects our commitment to operating within established frameworks. Our infrastructure includes advanced KYC/KYB processes, AI-powered identity verification, and continuous AML monitoring.

Have expectations changed in terms of custody, access, or transparency in crypto wealth management solutions?

Dramatically, the shift happened faster than many anticipated.

Institutional investors held 25.4% of spot Bitcoin ETF AUM as of December 2024, totaling $26.8 billion. That percentage grew 113% between Q3 and Q4 2024 alone, and the number of institutional investors exposed via ETFs reached 1,576.

Custody has become table stakes. After the failures of 2022, institutional clients don’t just ask if assets are segregated; they want to see the legal structure, the insurance coverage, the audit reports. The conversation has shifted: compliance documentation comes first, fee discussions come later. That’s a healthy evolution for the industry.

Transparency requirements have increased correspondingly. Real-time reporting, clear fee structures, and comprehensive audit trails are now baseline expectations. The operational standards applied to traditional wealth management relationships are expected in digital asset services.

ARI10 has developed infrastructure to address these institutional expectations. Dedicated account management and real-time reporting provide the transparency sophisticated investors require. Clear asset segregation practices extend these standards across multiple markets.

What innovations or infrastructure developments (e.g., tokenisation, ETFs, compliance tools) do you believe are most important to the future of crypto in private wealth?

Three developments stand out, and I’ll explain why each matters practically.

First, the ETF infrastructure continues to expand. Despite Bitcoin’s price correction, 2025 ETF AUM reached $148 billion, a 28% increase from the previous year, with daily average flows approaching $6 billion.

Second, tokenisation infrastructure is maturing rapidly. The tokenised RWA market was valued at $297.71 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $9.43 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of 72.8%.

Third, and this is where I’ll offer a personal observation, compliance infrastructure has become the essential backbone of institutional adoption. When I started in this industry eight years ago, compliance was an afterthought. Today, it’s the first conversation. The GENIUS Act, MiCA enforcement, and evolving SEC guidance mean that platforms without robust compliance infrastructure simply won’t survive the next phase.

ARI10 is actively developing infrastructure to support these trends. Our API-first architecture and established regulatory framework position us to serve as a compliant infrastructure connecting digital and traditional financial systems across Central Europe and the broader EU market.

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