Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) released a report on the cryptocurrency market outlook for 2026, naming stablecoins and tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) as key keywords for next year. The report assessed that the cryptocurrency industry has entered a phase where it is moving beyond a simple investment market to reshaping the entire financial infrastructure.
a16z analyzed that the expansion of on- and off-ramps in the stablecoin sector will be the fastest-growing area. It is expected that real-world use cases, such as cross-border payments, payroll, and inter-company settlements, that replace existing financial systems will increase significantly. The recent surge in global corporations and fintech startups entering stablecoin payment networks is also fueling this trend.
RWA tokenization is gaining increasing attention. The report predicts that various forms of real-world asset tokenization, including perpetual futures structures, will begin in earnest next year. In particular, the report predicts that on-chain issuance of debt instruments and the digital transformation of financial products will encourage participation from large institutional investors. The report also cited the increasingly clear regulatory landscape in the US and Europe as a factor driving the expansion of RWA.
a16z also pointed to the trend of the Internet becoming a financial system as a key change. They explained that an era is dawning where users can seamlessly utilize financial activities like wallets, payments, investments, and loans as if they were web services. Within this trend, accessibility to asset management services is expected to further improve.
The rise of AI was also identified as a key factor in the restructuring of the cryptocurrency industry. The report emphasized that establishing a regulatory framework for AI agents, along with the integration of prediction markets and AI models, privacy-preserving technologies, and verifiable cloud computing, will be new growth drivers. Decentralized messaging and regulatory clarity were also identified as key factors in driving industry maturity.
a16z optimistically forecasted the structural growth of the cryptocurrency market, stating, โ2026 will be a turning point where technological experiments will transform into practical financial services.โ
