Chainfeeds Summary:
This article summarizes Messari's 100,000-word annual report, combining AI and human analysis to identify 60 crypto trends for 2026.
Article source:
https://x.com/0xBitalk/status/2003413769221976197
Article Author:
Bitalk News
Opinion:
Bitalk News: If L1 crypto doesn't see real growth, crypto money will increasingly flow to Bitcoin. ETH is currently Bitcoin's junior partner, not an independent leader. ETH has institutional and corporate support and can profit alongside Bitcoin, but it's not yet fully independent. ZEC's correlation with Bitcoin has dropped to 0.24, acting as a privacy hedge against Bitcoin's dominance. Application-specific currencies (such as Virtuals Protocol and Zora) are becoming a new trend in 2026. Taking Virtuals Protocol as an example, application-specific currencies are introduced: when a user creates an AI agent, a dedicated token is issued. All agent tokens are paired with the platform token VIRTUAL (buying agent tokens requires VIRTUAL, providing liquidity). The more popular the platform and the more useful the AI agent, the greater the demand for VIRTUAL, making it the dedicated currency of this ecosystem. Stablecoins are transforming from speculative tools into a US monetary weapon. The GENIUS Act (passed in 2025), the first federal stablecoin regulation in the US, transforms stablecoins from crypto toys into a tool of US monetary policy. Tether may continue to dominate the stablecoin market in developing countries, while large institutions will seize the developed market. Tether's profits are soaring, with its valuation approaching $500 billion. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, PayPal, Visa, Google, and others are all entering the stablecoin market, issuing stablecoins or building infrastructure. Cloudflare and Google are building stablecoins and payment protocols specifically for AI-assisted transactions, preparing to enter the future world of AI-automated spending. In 2026, interest rates will decline, leading to a surge in yield-generating stablecoins (such as lending spreads, arbitrage, and GPU-collateralized loans) (e.g., Ethena's USDe). Real Asset Tokenization (RWA) will bring trillions of dollars of assets onto the blockchain in the future. By 2025, the total size of RWA will reach $18 billion, mainly in government bonds and credit. DTCC (the US securities clearing giant) has received SEC approval to tokenize US securities. Most are deployed on Ethereum (64%), but institutions may use private chains. Ethereum L2 handles most transactions, but tokens perform poorly. Base has the strongest revenue, accounting for 62% of L2. Arbitrum is the strongest in DeFi. Solana, the king of retail and speculative trading, continues to dominate retail trading, spot volume, and the memecoin craze. In 2026, Ripple aims to make XRPL an "institution-friendly DeFi chain," adding various compliance features to its underlying infrastructure. Stellar will focus on stablecoins and payment applications in 2026 (with ultra-low fees of $0.00055 per transaction, readily available wallets, global fiat currency channels, and bulk payment platforms). Hedera aspires to be a "regulated enterprise infrastructure backbone," focusing on two key areas: RWA tokenization and verifiable AI. BNB Chain will directly drive traffic to Binance's 290 million users. Binance Alpha will continue as a new project incubator, prioritizing BNB Chain. TRON will remain the king of USDT transfers in emerging markets. TRON is one of the most profitable businesses in the crypto space, with annual revenue exceeding $500 million. Newly emerging stablecoin-specific chains are trying to take its place, but TRON has a strong moat. As long as it maintains its dominant position in USDT and expands its global influence, it will remain a core pillar of the stablecoin economy in 2026.
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