For most of modern finance, controlling your money meant trusting someone else with it. Banks held your deposits, governed your access, and operated behind closed systems. Even the wave of neo-banks that promised “modern finance” never actually changed the underlying infrastructure. They just polished the surface.
In 2026, that shifted.
Self-custody moved from a niche crypto concept to the foundation of the next generation of consumer finance. And it didn’t happen because people suddenly became more technical or ideologically driven. It happened because the world changed—and the old system couldn’t keep up.
The trust gap widened
Over the past decade, users saw banks freeze accounts, limit withdrawals, and suffer technical outages that blocked access to their own money. Cross-border transfers took days. Fees stayed high. And compliance processes became friction-heavy and slow.
Consumers became more global, mobile, and agent-driven. Institutions did not.
As a result, the idea that your money should only be accessible through a single institution started to feel outdated. Self-custody offered a simple alternative: your money, your keys, your access.
This shift wasn’t ideological. It was practical.
Meanwhile, new security standards like passkeys, social recovery, and on-chain fraud protection removed the fear of losing access. Suddenly, self-custody wasn’t risky. It was safer, faster, and more global than legacy banking.
By 2026, the conclusion was obvious: A world that moves at the speed of AI needs money that moves at the speed of users.
Self-custody didn’t “win.” It became inevitable.
