Bitcoin’s Future: Institutional Adoption and the Role of AI in Digital Assets

Welcome to FinTech TV.

As Bitcoin matures into a mainstream institutional asset, investors are demanding more than just basic exposure.

They no longer just want to hold Bitcoin, they want it to work for them.

Well, joining us here at Digital Asset Summit 2026 to discuss how they're building the next gen of financial infrastructure and also navigating the current regulatory landscape is Katherine Dowling, the president of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company.

Katherine, great to have you here.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you for having me.

Well, we're here at Digital Asset Summit 2026 in New York and we're about to wrap up Q1 2026.

So first and foremost, what do you make of the regulatory landscape right now?

Well, clarity's coming.

I know that's been, we've been saying that for a while now, but it looks like there's at least some compromise, kind of split the baby approach, which seems to be, obviously there's a lot of hostility on both sides around this, but At least we have some language on the paper to push it forward.

And I've seen, um, you know, a number of the senators speaking on the wires talking about that we're hoping by April to get a markup and at least that's something to respond to.

And it feels like this, this middle ground will, you know, hopefully push clarity forward.

It's not ideal for either side.

I think the crypto will think that the banks push this.

The banks will think it's not far enough.

Um, I personally don't think that this deposit flight was as huge a risk as the as the banks see it as.

And I think, you know, why not push the banks to be more competitive.

But I also see the benefits of moving forward and getting clarity out there for the larger ecosystem.

Um, and it's been a long time coming.

So I think, um, if hopefully as DC turns, they can get to some, some there there on this because again, it's been a long time coming and it's, it's needed and we thankfully we already have the SEC and the CFTC kind of filling in around the sides, which is super helpful.

Um, but getting the legislation is obviously the gold standard because the legislation is what's going to be more administrative administration.

And that's what we really want to go for.

But love to see all the activity around the SEC and the CFTC jumping in, creating some definitions.

It's been so long coming.

I mean, I've been in this industry a long time and, um, just I, I, I sat in the room when Gensler could not.

Answer the question, what is Ethereum?

And that at this point that seems like so long ago, but it wasn't that long ago.

So we're really, we really are moving forward in many positive ways, and I, I try to focus on that.

And I do think, um, at least getting this kind of uh Tillis also Brooks compromise, you know, starts the dialogue back up and, um, and hopefully, hopefully we'll get, uh, you know, the Easter Bunny will bring some some additional treats.

Yes, and as you mentioned, we're only in the first quarter of 2026, but when we look back on 2025, we did get progress in terms of the Genius Act, and 2025 was also the year of the DA, the digital asset treasury, but as we all Know, given the drawdown in October of last year and what we saw in February of 2026, there's been focus on what we've been seeing in terms of market cap for the digital asset space.

So when it comes to the institutions, what are you hearing on the ground?

I mean, I think there's, there's been a lot of focus on, OK, what, what's the Bitcoin price today?

What did it do versus last week?

And I think if we look at exactly where it is, yes, it was very frothy over 2025, and the war, the Iranian war is obviously creating some macro factors.

There are a number, there's a lot of noise in the environment.

But when I look at the price, and I, I try not to focus on the price, I kind of try to keep my eyes on the road ahead and to the fundamentals of Bitcoin and the technological promise, but um, I'm actually looking at it saying it's doing pretty well given everything that's going on, really.

It's actually proving up as a store value.

Yes, it's volatile.

Yes, we can compare it to gold and see, but you know, it's been a back and forth with Bitcoin and gold, and um I like what I'm seeing.

Actually, like, you know, if you've been in with Bitcoin long enough, you've seen a lot more price action.

So I think, you know, looking ahead and looking at all we can do with the technology, looking at clarity coming out and what that will also do further do for, for the ecosystem and for institutional, you know, moving into the space once there's legislation that's actually regulating crypto, all of those are positives.

So as much as there's A lot of noise from October through now.

I really do try to focus on those fundamentals, and the fundamentals are really good and they're really strong.

And I think that's, that's very important and more businesses jumping in because of that regulatory clarity that can't be underscored, right?

Just having genius, having, you know, clarity coming, having the SEC and CFTC come together and create some definitions and be working together, all of that.

Fosters the groundwork for businesses to be here in the US and to move forward on their business plans without the hesitation and the concern that they're going to fall afoul of the SEC because those definitions are there and they're and they're more coming.

So there's there's less of that concern that they're going to, you know, fall into that Genzler era, um, you know, regulation by enforcement.

So I think all of those are positives and I'm focusing on those positives.

Yeah, and even SEC Chair Paul Atkins and we heard from Michael Selig as well here at the Digital asset summit.

So there is cooperation, there is progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.

So I do want to get your take on the fundamentals.

So what are the key takeaways as we head into the rest of the year?

Yeah, as we head into those years we'll see whether we get clarity, which I think will be, you know, a nice, a nice boon to the market, you know, kind of getting through that and having actual legislation on the books will be huge, um, but I also see, you know, with the, with the war, it, it feels like we're, you know, heading into a de-escalation.

I, I know that there's comments that that's fake news, etc. but um, it feels like with getting that under control will also be tremendously helpful for some of that macro noise I mentioned that we're seeing in the environment, um, and the distraction factor obviously of, you know, our government having to, you know, look at the, you know, the spend and the, you know, the funding for the war, etc. is a huge distraction.

Same with Department of Homeland Security, getting Department of Homeland Security.

Back up and running.

So there is a lot of noise in the environment and you know, hopefully we'll kind of get through that noise as well.

Yeah, and indeed there's a lot of noise.

So I think it's so important to find the signal, especially in a midterm election year, which is hard to believe, but we are fast approaching that November date.

So as we navigate our way through 2026, when it comes to institutional adoption and also Bitcoin exposure, what are you actually seeing?

Um, I'm seeing continued and tremendous interest, and you have so many banks that are looking at how do they Rethink their own systems, and this is so new.

There were several years ago, you know, we were banging on the doors of the banks trying to get them interested in just Bitcoin, like forget other digital assets, and to fast forward now to see banks recommending Bitcoin in portfolios, Banks really looking at their own rails and seeing who do they partner with, what do they do internally to create And to be on top of the technology, also layering AI, not just, not just tokenization and not just digital assets, but just trying to figure out how they stay ahead in this changing technology has been fascinating.

The evolution has been tremendous.

So having that, that, uh, that institutional involvement, um, is changing the game, but it's also expanding the field and in in mostly positive ways.

And you mentioned artificial intelligence that is a technology as well as investment theme that all of us across the country have been paying attention to.

So when we add the layer of AI to digital assets, it's not even a question of when, it's more a question of how.

So from a regulatory perspective, how are you looking at the space?

Yeah, and I think AI fits hand in glove with with crypto quite nicely with blockchain blockchain technology.

So the, you know, the how the two kind of are parallel tracking with their growth and who the players are in AI that, you know, become the ultimate winners, who they track up with on the blockchain side is going to be tremendously interesting.

So we are, we're not just watching it, we're actually talking to a lot of those players as well and kind of seeing, seeing how we can work together as we, as we look to, as you said at the beginning of the segment, kind of make Bitcoin work for us and that next evolution of What we're doing in Bitcoin and digital assets.

And finally, before I let you go, what will this evolution actually look like a year from now for both institutional as well as retail investors?

Well, I'm hoping that again that we cut through this noise and that we have, you know, you know, returned to more of the kind of growth story and the positivity with a Bitcoin and all of the potential, because the focus has been so much on the price and the price action, etc.

So the hope is that we can Actually be seeing some real movement and seeing across some of these companies, like our company, what we're doing with our Bitcoin stores, right?

So we'll, we'll have this Bitcoin, we tend to, we intend to actively manage that Bitcoin, and a year from now we'll have some, you know, case points to show, here's what we did, here's how we, uh, we acted on it, and here's how we put it to work.

So I think it'll be really interesting to take it from kind of that academic to reality.

Well, Catherine, it was wonderful talking to you here at Digital Asset Summit 2026.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thanks, I'm yourler.

Thank you for having me.