Q&A: How MSPs are Unlocking New Opportunity with Blockchain

As enterprises move from blockchain pilots to production deployments, MSPs are reassessing how the technology fits into their 2026 service strategies. 

In this Q&A, Cosmos Labs co-CEO and co-founder Barry Plunkett breaks down where demand is forming—from regulated tokenization projects to blockchain infrastructure operations—and how MSPs can turn scarce expertise into durable, recurring revenue.

How MSPs are unlocking new opportunity with blockchain

What have you seen MSPs build to support blockchain investments made by organizations? 

We’ve seen two main trends in how MSPs approach blockchain. 

The first is regionalized expertise. MSPs tend to build deep knowledge in a specific jurisdiction and vertical, then package that into a repeatable offering. 

In financial services, especially, regulation varies so much by region that any MSP who successfully builds a tokenization ledger for a bank in one jurisdiction now has a blueprint they can sell to others in that same regulatory environment. The initial investment becomes a productized opportunity. 

The second is complementary tooling. MSPs working on blockchain often don’t own the core IP, whether that’s the ledger itself or the smart contracts running on it. 

But there’s no shortage of supporting infrastructure that every blockchain deployment needs to operate, like RPCs, wallet infrastructure, node management, and monitoring. 

MSPs are increasingly building and owning these tools as a way to secure long-term contracts and recurring revenue, even when the core ledger work is a one-time engagement. 

How does understanding and servicing blockchain create new opportunities for MSPs? 

Blockchain knowledge opens up multiple layers of opportunity. 

At one level, there’s advisory work. We’ve conducted research with over 1,200 institutional decision-makers, and advisors and consultants are still the number one path to blockchain adoption for enterprises. Education is a powerful asset in an industry that’s still young and complex. 

At another level, the technical talent market is severely constrained. Developers with expertise in stacks like Cosmos or Ethereum, who can build smart contracts and blockchain ledgers, number in the low thousands globally. 

Compare that to millions of JavaScript or Rust developers. Enterprises still rely heavily on third-party vendors for both development and maintenance. 

The learning curve is steep enough that MSPs can provide initial build services and then transition into long-term support and upskilling engagements. 

The path forward: contracts, infrastructure support, and deeper connection with what clients need

What do MSPs need to know and have from a capabilities perspective to support blockchain-based initiatives? 

A common misconception is that blockchain work is all about smart contracts. The reality is broader.

Building blockchain ledgers, designing contract logic, managing surrounding infrastructure, handling security, working with data and user management, understanding cryptography—these are all distinct capabilities that circle around blockchain initiatives. 

At a high level, MSPs need foundational knowledge in three areas: ledger design and implementation, contract logic and architecture, and infrastructure operations. 

From that base, they can specialize further into cryptography, security, token economics, or other verticals, depending on client demand. 

How does cryptocurrency factor into these opportunities, and where can MSPs provide value in the payment processes associated with crypto? 

Cryptocurrency and tokenization shift MSPs from infrastructure builders to architects of programmable value flows. 

On the payments side, stablecoins enable instant settlement flows that can dramatically improve banking experiences and compress trading settlement cycles from days to seconds. 

On the asset side, tokenization unlocks liquidity in traditionally illiquid markets; mortgage loans, for example, can be tokenized to create faster secondary market trading. 

That’s the deeper opportunity: programmability. When value is represented as a digital token, business logic can be embedded directly into it. 

Payments that auto-execute when conditions are met, compliance enforced at the transaction layer, and settlement that doesn’t wait for batch processing. MSPs who understand this can target a whole different range of blockchain-powered use-cases.