Author: Delphi Digital
Compiled by: Jia Huan, ChainCatcher
1. AI agents begin autonomous trading.
The x402 protocol allows any API to restrict access via crypto payments. When an agent needs a service, it pays instantly with stablecoins. No cart, no subscription. ERC-8004 increases trust by creating a reputation registry for agents (containing performance history and staked collateral). Combined, you get a autonomous agent economy. Users can delegate travel planning. Their agents subcontract tasks to flight search agents, pay data fees via x402, and book tickets on-chain, all without human intervention.
2. Perpetual DEXs Devour Traditional Finance
Traditional finance is expensive due to its fragmentation. Trading occurs on exchanges, settlement goes through clearinghouses, and custody is handled by banks. Blockchain compresses all of this into a single smart contract. Hyperliquid is now building native lending. Perpetual contract DEXs can potentially act as brokers, exchanges, custodians, banks, and clearinghouses simultaneously. Competitors like @Aster_DEX, @Lighter_xyz, and @paradex are racing to catch up.
3. Prediction markets are being upgraded into traditional financial infrastructure.
Thomas Peterffy, Chairman of Interactive Brokers, views prediction markets as a real-time information layer for investment portfolios. Early demand on IBKR focused on weather contracts for energy, logistics, and insurance risks. 2026 will open up new categories: equity event markets targeting earnings exceeding expectations and guidance ranges, macroeconomic data like CPI and Fed decisions, and cross-asset relative value markets. Traders holding tokenized AAPL can hedge profit risk through simple binary contracts without operating on options. Prediction markets will become top-tier derivatives.
4. The ecosystem reclaims stablecoin rewards from issuers.
Coinbase earned over $900 million in USDC reserves last year simply by controlling distribution. Chains like Solana, BSC, Arbitrum, Aptos, and Avalanche earn only about $800 million in fees annually, yet their networks hold over $30 billion in USDC and USDT. Platforms driving stablecoin adoption are siphoning more profits off issuers than they themselves earn.
The situation is changing. Hyperliquid conducted a bidding process for USDH and now receives half of the reserve yields for its aid fund. Ethena's "stablecoin-as-a-service" model is currently being adopted by Sui, MegaETH, and Jupiter. The yields that were previously passively accumulated for existing businesses are now being reclaimed by platforms that generate demand.
5. DeFi overcomes under-collateralized lending
DeFi lending protocols boast billions in TVL, but almost all require overcollateralization. The key to unlocking this is zkTLS. Users can prove their bank balance exceeds a certain amount without revealing their account number, transaction history, or identity. @3janexyz leverages verified Web2 Finance data to provide instant, undercollateralized USDC lines of credit. The algorithm monitors borrowers in real time and dynamically adjusts interest rates. The same framework can use performance history as a credit score for underwriting AI agents. @maplefinance, @centrifuge, and @USDai_Official are working on related issues. 2026 is poised to be the year undercollateralized lending moves from experimentation to infrastructure.
6. On-chain forex finds a product-market fit.
USD stablecoins account for 99.7% of the total supply, but this may have peaked. Traditional forex is a multi-trillion dollar market riddled with intermediaries, fragmented settlement channels, and exorbitant fees. On-chain forex streamlines the transaction process by eliminating multiple intermediaries by having all currencies exist as tokenized assets on a shared execution layer. Product-market fit may emerge in emerging market currency pairs, where traditional forex channels are most expensive and inefficient. In these underserved corridors, the value proposition of cryptocurrencies is clearest.
7. Gold and Bitcoin will attract safe-haven flows.
Gold prices surged 60% after we marked it as one of the most watchable charts. Despite record prices, central banks have purchased over 600 tons. China has consistently been one of the most active buyers. Macroeconomic conditions support its continued strength. Global central banks are cutting interest rates. Fiscal deficits will persist until 2027. Global M2 is breaking through its peak. The Federal Reserve is ending quantitative tightening. Gold typically leads Bitcoin by three to four months. As currency devaluation becomes a major issue heading into the 2026 midterm elections, both assets will see safe-haven flows.
8. Exchanges become a "universal application"
Coinbase, Robinhood, Binance, and Kraken are no longer just building exchanges. They're building all-in-one apps. Coinbase has Base as its operating system, Base App as its interface, USDC as its guaranteed income, and Deribit for derivatives. Robinhood's Gold membership grew 77% year-over-year and is acting as a retention engine. Binance is already operating at super-app scale, with over 270 million users and $250 billion in payments. When distribution becomes cheap, value will accrue to those who own the users. 2026 will be the year the winners start to diverge.
9. Privacy infrastructure catches up with demand.
The EU has passed the Chat Control Act, capping cash transactions at €10,000. The European Central Bank plans to launch a digital euro with a €3,000 holding limit. Privacy infrastructure is catching up. @payy_link is launching privacy-enabled crypto cards. @SeismicSys provides protocol-level encryption for fintech companies. @KeetaNetwork has implemented on-chain KYC without requiring the disclosure of personal data. @CantonNetwork provides privacy infrastructure support for large financial institutions. Without privacy channels, stablecoins will hit their adoption ceiling.
10. Altcoin returns remain divergent.
The broad-based bull market of the past will not return. Over $3 billion worth of token unlocks are imminent. Competition from AI, robotics, and biotechnology is intensifying. ETF flows are concentrated in Bitcoin and a few large-cap stocks. Funds will converge around structural demand: tokens with ETF flows, protocols with real revenue and buybacks, and applications with genuine product-market fit. Winners will be concentrated among teams that can build defensive moats in categories with real economic activity.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrencies are entering the next phase. Institutionalization has arrived. Prediction markets, on-chain lending, agent economics, and stablecoins as infrastructure represent a true paradigm shift. Cryptocurrencies are becoming the infrastructure layer of global finance. Teams that understand this will define the next decade.
