At just 23 years old, Kole Lee, a rising star in the crypto world, has launched a new startup called Vigil Labs. His goal? To completely rethink how trading works by using artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized finance (DeFi) from the ground up.

Kole Lee’s journey is already impressive. He attended Stanford but dropped out to focus on innovation full-time. While at Stanford, he worked as an analyst for the Blyth Fund, one of the top student-run investment funds. There, he convinced the team to invest in Bitcoin when it was priced at $45,000. He also played a key role in the Stanford Blockchain Club, a hub for crypto research and networking. That club has produced several major players now involved in Ethereum, Solana, and crypto venture capital.

Now, with $5.7 million in seed funding, Lee is building Vigil Labs to change how financial trading platforms work. Instead of adding AI to old systems built decades ago, he wants to build brand-new infrastructure that uses blockchain, machine learning, and decentralized liquidity from the start. His vision is to create trading platforms that are designed for the digital age—not retrofitted for it.

Lee believes traditional hedge funds are misusing AI by trying to attach it to outdated systems like those built around Bloomberg Terminals and old-school databases. He compares it to companies that tried to move to the cloud but didn’t go all-in—resulting in clunky, expensive hybrids that never delivered on their promise.

Vigil Labs starts from a different perspective: “What if trading was invented today—with AI and blockchain already in place?” This question guides their entire approach.

Looking ahead to 2026, Lee has some bold predictions. He believes Bitcoin will no longer be seen just as a speculative investment but will become a strategic reserve asset for countries and large state-backed funds.

He expects that by 2026, countries like Norway, the UAE, and Singapore will publicly list Bitcoin holdings in their national balance sheets. This could trigger a global movement similar to the gold rush during the Cold War era.

His most ambitious prediction? Bitcoin reaching over $200,000 per coin by the end of 2026. While this may sound extreme to some, it lines up with key trends like Bitcoin halving cycles (the last one happened in April 2024) and the growing involvement of institutional investors.

Prediction markets are also gaining ground fast. Platforms like Polymarket have exploded from under $10 million in yearly volume in 2021 to more than $2 billion total by 2024. Kalshi, another platform, now offers regulated prediction markets on inflation data and Federal Reserve decisions.

Lee thinks that by 2026, prediction markets will be bigger than sports betting platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel. This growth would be powered by two key factors: better regulation and increasing demand from people who want real-time insights into economic events. If he’s right, prediction markets could become vital tools for financial analysts and decision-makers—not just gamblers.

Another major shift Lee sees coming is the merging of traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi). By 2026, he believes at least one Wall Street giant—like BlackRock, Citadel, or JPMorgan—will launch a special DeFi exchange. This platform would only allow approved institutions to trade but would settle all transactions directly on a public blockchain.

This would mean faster settlements and greater transparency while still maintaining control over who can participate. It’s a blend of traditional security with modern innovation—and it’s already starting to happen.

If big financial players begin using blockchain for settlements, it could mark a major turning point: DeFi wouldn’t just be a fringe movement anymore—it could become the backbone of global finance.

Kole Lee’s ideas may sound bold, but they’re grounded in real trends already shaping the industry. If even one of his predictions comes true, 2026 could be remembered as a game-changing year for digital finance.

His story shows that today’s young crypto leaders aren’t just working on side projects—they’re aiming to rebuild the entire financial system. With Vigil Labs leading the charge, AI, Bitcoin, and DeFi could go from niche technologies to core elements of the global economy.