The Institutional Playbook for Crypto in 2026 (Retail Is Late Again) w/ Zac Prince

Watch on YouTube ↗ | January 06, 2026 at 19:45 | 34:23 | Milk Road Daily

Speakers

Zac Prince — Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital

John Gillen — Co-Host, Milk Road Macro

Summary

Zac Prince, former BlockFi CEO and now Head of Galaxy One at Galaxy Digital, discusses crypto market structure, Galaxy 1's product roadmap, and why institutional infrastructure is advancing while retail sentiment remains weak. He remains long-term bullish on Bitcoin and the crypto asset class, sees ETF distribution, stablecoins, and tokenization as key 2026 growth themes, and explains Galaxy Premium Yield's 8% crypto-lending-based cash product. The conversation also covers Galaxy Digital's positioning across institutional crypto services and AI data centers, plus regulatory and product catalysts ahead.

Zac says Bitcoin remains a long-term store-of-value plus venture-style bet despite weak 2025 performance.
He expects crypto ETF distribution and traditional-finance product wrappers to keep proliferating in 2026.
Galaxy Premium Yield offers accredited investors 8% via Galaxy's institutional crypto lending market with a Galaxy guarantee.
He predicts Bitcoin will make a new all-time high in 2026 and sees stablecoin adoption rising rapidly.
Real-world asset tokenization is another expected growth theme, building on tokenized dollars and potential tokenized equities.
Galaxy Digital is framed as uniquely combining institutional crypto financial services with AI data centers.
Galaxy 1 is expanding into staking, borrowing, corporate accounts, and treasury solutions for crypto businesses.
The Clarity Act is viewed as a bullish regulatory catalyst for crypto, though Galaxy 1 is exchange-layer agnostic.

Ideas

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 2:28

Bitcoin is long-term value and venture bet.

Zac views Bitcoin as a store of value mixed with a venture-capital-style bet, with tailwinds from ETFs, traditional financial distribution, favorable demographics, and broader blockchain adoption. He notes 2025 was unexpectedly weak despite good macro and bearish/rage-quit sentiment; historically, that pattern can precede a rip. He avoids short-term price calls but is long-term bullish and thinks liquid investors and institutions should have an allocation.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 2:43

Long-term bullish on crypto asset class.

He is long-term bullish on the crypto asset class because ETFs and traditional finance platforms can now distribute exposure, demographics favor adoption, and increased blockchain use across applications should pull capital into the ecosystem. He says anyone managing liquid investments would be wise to have an allocation.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 2:45

Crypto ETF distribution keeps growing.

ETFs and other traditional wrappers have opened distribution to investors, and traditional financial firms are still productizing crypto and slowly opening advisor and warehouse channels. Morgan Stanley announced a Bitcoin ETF and other crypto ETFs, and Zac expects proliferation and distribution growth to continue in 2026.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 8:08

Galaxy Digital uniquely combines crypto and AI.

Zac is bullish on Galaxy because it combines institutional crypto financial services with an expansion into AI data centers under one roof. He sees long-term intersections between those businesses that other companies are less positioned to exploit, plus the benefit of public audited financials and strong management/capital allocation.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 9:36

Galaxy Premium Yield offers attractive cash yield.

Galaxy Premium Yield offers accredited investors 8% APY on cash. The yield comes from Galaxy's institutional crypto lending market, which is undersupplied with cash relative to traditional markets, raising borrowing costs. A Galaxy guarantee wraps the product, making the risk profile more like corporate debt, and the vehicle is capped at $250 million for risk management, creating an attractive short-duration cash yield while capacity lasts.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 29:44

Stablecoin adoption keeps rising rapidly.

Stablecoins are a leading crypto use case, and Zac expects stablecoin adoption to continue increasing rapidly in 2026.

Zac Prince Former BlockFi CEO; Head of Galaxy One, Galaxy Digital 30:10

Real-world asset tokenization keeps growing.

He expects continued innovation and adoption in real-world asset tokenization, noting stablecoins or tokenized dollars have already created the category and that other tokenized assets or breakout assets may emerge.

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This Milk Road Daily video, published January 06, 2026, features Zac Prince discussing BTC, Crypto asset class, Crypto ETFs, GLXY, Galaxy Premium Yield, Stablecoin adoption, Real-world asset tokenization. 7 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Zac Prince · Tickers: BTC, Crypto asset class, Crypto ETFs, GLXY, Galaxy Premium Yield, Stablecoin adoption, Real-world asset tokenization