Original Title: 《20 Predictions for Crypto in 2026》
Author: Bitpush
As 2025 approaches its end amidst silence and growing pains, we begin to question everything again—from blue-chip chains like Optimism and Bitcoin to artificial intelligence, without exception.
Here are some predictions in areas I personally focus on (please note: these areas may not necessarily relate to truly important directions).
Looking back at this article a year from now should be a beneficial exercise; at the very least, it can remind you: don’t take the words of online writers too seriously :).
Prediction List
Fintech public chains will not create value for ETH: Ethereum will become a marketing term, and the "Ethereum community" will refocus on its asset value.
The number of stablecoins will exceed Layer2: The mechanisms of both are similar, but the issuance threshold for stablecoins is much lower. Overall, the industry will learn to deeply monetize total value locked (TVL) like monetizing trading volume.
The narrative of Rollup clusters will end: The model of sacrificing a large amount of sequencer fees for inter-Rollup connectivity will disappear or become commoditized. Major Rollup clusters will experience significant exit events.
The privacy track will retreat: The large-scale application of privacy technology still requires multiple iterations, and the current surge in value may be premature.
On-chain ETFization and the end of retail mining: Through tools like gtUSDa, users will shift from farming specific vaults to depositing funds into standardized vaults managed by collateralized assets (such as USDC, ETH, etc.).
"Trustless asset management" protocols will be hacked, resulting in losses exceeding $100 million: The architecture of protocols will regain focus. Although I do not welcome this, the rapid growth of this track, the influx of participants into yield projects, and the shortcuts taken by protocols make such events highly likely. We have strived to create the safest on-chain asset management architecture, yet it is still shocking to see large amounts of funds deposited into vaults that are essentially just multi-signature wallets.
The first Bitcoin Layer2 will go live: Although there are few followers and the narrative remains chaotic, several teams are working behind the scenes to advance Bitcoin Layer2. Their launch will challenge the narrative that "BTC is just a meme coin or an outdated antique coin."
The first non-USD stablecoins will gain adoption: While the pound stablecoin may go unnoticed, the Swiss franc or Singapore dollar stablecoins will be a different story. This direction is worth exploring in depth.
Rollups will compete through applications: "General Rollups" without killer applications will struggle in the battle for trading volume.
AI will replace communities and social media as asset discovery channels: The hype around meme coin communities has peaked.
Traditional NFT series will not revive next year: However, the number of asset tokenization cases under the ERC721 standard is expected to increase, even if it's just Pokémon cards.
A well-known celebrity will issue creator tokens on the Base chain, only to be forgotten by the public: Creator tokens will follow the trajectory of meme coins and friend.tech. When early holders truly start to incur losses, the negative flywheel effect will hinder the long-term ecological maintenance under the current model.
Mainstream issuers will develop custom Uniswap v4 liquidity pools and control liquidity: Initially focusing on real-world assets (RWA) and compliance (KYC) use cases.
Exchanges and other integrators will compete to recommend on-chain products: As they have figured out monetization pathways (own chains, own stablecoins, revenue sharing, etc.).
"Future governance" will replace "retrospective funding": By launching platforms and synchronously promoting with campaign platforms like Butter.
Token issuance will rise again: With regulatory support and better launch platforms, more teams will dare to issue tokens. This partly depends on asset prices in 2026, but we should also see teams issuing tokens through future governance platforms as an early financing method.
"Delegated representatives" will decline: The power of DAOs and their delegated representatives will significantly shrink, as they no longer constitute a legal necessity. Protocols not irreversibly bound to DAO models will gain a competitive advantage in growth momentum.
Network nations will issue real assets and become the focus of the crypto space (lasting about a week): Whether through real estate ownership or token issuance, the time for the next exploration has come.
AI vulnerability detection tools will show initial effectiveness: The first tools capable of independently discovering smart contract vulnerabilities will emerge, but they still cannot replace audits. Teams that rely entirely on AI audits will face losses.
1-2 major prediction market betting categories will disappear: The phenomenon of insider incentives leading to market unfairness will be exposed, and platforms will either self-regulate or accept external oversight.
Note: This article does not constitute investment advice for prediction markets.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
