Cronos Unveils 2025–2026 Roadmap to Drive Institutional On-Chain Finance

Singapore — Cronos has released its new two-year roadmap, outlining an ambitious strategy to establish itself as the blockchain of choice for institutional finance. The plan centers on three growth engines — infrastructure, distribution, and demand — designed to scale tokenization, AI integration, and global liquidity.

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Infrastructure: Tokenization Meets AI

At the core of the roadmap is a purpose-built tokenization platform for a wide range of assets, including equities, funds, commodities, insurance, forex, and real estate. The platform aims to deliver instant T+0 transfers, yield-bearing tokenized stocks, and seamless integration with DeFi protocols.

To further expand utility, tokenized assets will be natively accessible to AI agents through the Cronos AI Agent SDK and its Proof of Identity standard, creating programmable financial products that align with institutional requirements.

Distribution: Scaling Through Crypto.com

Cronos will leverage its deep integration with Crypto.com, unlocking access to over 150 million retail users worldwide. This includes embedding Cronos products into fiat rails and Project Cortex, Crypto.com’s LLM-powered financial assistant.

The roadmap also anticipates merchant adoption at scale, with up to 10 million businesses eligible to integrate Cronos-enabled DeFi services such as lending and staking directly into their payments stack.

Demand: Building Institutional Utility for CRO

Cronos plans to strengthen demand for its native token, CRO, by supporting CRO-powered ETFs in the U.S. and EU and partnering with digital asset treasury firms to reinforce liquidity. By 2026, Cronos targets $20 billion in CRO via public markets, $10 billion in tokenized assets, and 20 million users across both centralized and decentralized finance.
“Blockchain must evolve from niche trading rails into true financial infrastructure. This roadmap ties tokenization, AI, and DeFi into one interoperable system institutions and retail users can rely on. With distribution through Crypto.com and a foundation of regulatory credibility, Cronos is uniquely positioned to make that leap.”

Mirko Zhao, Head of Cronos Labs
Real-World Bridges and Market Momentum

Cronos has already begun executing on its roadmap. Recent network upgrades cut block times to 0.5 seconds and reduced gas fees by 90%, driving a 400% surge in daily transactions.

In partnership with Crypto.com and DeFi platforms like VVS Finance and H2 Finance, Cronos also launched a feature that links Web3 wallets directly to the Crypto.com debit card, allowing users to move funds on-chain and spend them in real time — a step toward turning DeFi liquidity into everyday purchasing power.

The roadmap arrives as tokenization emerges as one of the fastest-growing trends in global finance. The sector has expanded 200% in two years to $25 billion and is projected to reach $18 trillion by 2033, with stablecoins already representing a $271 billion market. By embedding AI-native rails and aligning with public-market liquidity drivers, Cronos aims to capture the next wave of institutional adoption.

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