In 2017, a handful of developers with a whitepaper and a GitHub repository could launch a token or a crypto startup in a matter of days. Capital requirements were low, licensing was either non-existent or seen as an afterthought, and a compelling idea was usually enough to draw thousands of retail buyers into an ICO before a product even existed.

In 2026, though, many customer-facing crypto companies entering regulated markets need lawyers, compliance staff, banking partners, an anti-money-laundering program, and enough capital to satisfy licensing and operating requirements before they can serve customers at scale.

The crypto industry was built by anonymous founders shipping code from a bedroom, but now it runs on companies with…