A Comprehensive Outlook for the Stablecoin Market Next Year: "Emerging Core Financial Infrastructure"

Cointelegraph has compiled a 2026 outlook for stablecoins, presented by leading industry experts. 1. Emergence as a core global financial infrastructure: Stablecoins will become a core payment infrastructure not only for DeFi but also for the traditional financial system. They will serve as a financial conduit, supporting online fund flows in an unobtrusive manner. 2. The first year of regulated stablecoins: With regulatory clarity secured, dollar-based stablecoins will be integrated into the mainstream payment system, leading to widespread adoption across banking, fintech, corporate, and retail payment networks. 3. Concerns about stablecoin regulation, market fragmentation, and increased systemic risk: Differing regulatory frameworks across countries could exacerbate systemic risk and market polarization. This could lead to various side effects, including increased operating costs, increased compliance burdens, and liquidity disruptions. 4. Expanded utility in B2B and payroll: Stablecoins will expand into everyday financial processes such as corporate payments, financial operations, B2B settlements, and payroll payments. 5. Tokenized deposits emerge as stablecoin competitors: Tokenized deposits could threaten the dominance of stablecoins. As banks innovate their digital financial infrastructure by incorporating permissioned ledgers and programmable money features, tokenized deposits could potentially replace stablecoins in areas requiring regulatory stability and security. 6. Building an inclusive financial infrastructure based on stablecoins in emerging markets: Stablecoins are rapidly expanding as a means of everyday payments, remittances, and asset preservation in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Stablecoins are evolving into inclusive and efficient value-based financial system infrastructure. 7. Restructuring into on-chain financial infrastructure: This will be a turning point for stablecoins to become the foundational layer of on-chain finance. With $230 billion in non-yielding stablecoins sitting idle, institutional investors are expected to actively utilize them for DeFi-based solutions such as USDS.