Original / Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Yesterday, the "industry's top narrative VC" a16z released a significant report titled “17 Most Anticipated Creative Trends in Crypto for 2026”, covering various fields such as stablecoins, tokenization, payments and finance, privacy, security, AI, and agency. It notably mentioned that "the trading volume of stablecoins will reach $46 trillion in 2024, which is 20 times that of PayPal and nearly 3 times that of Visa."
In light of recent news such as OSL Group's upcoming launch of the stablecoin USDGO, Jupiter's stablecoin JupUSD set to launch next week, and YouTube supporting American creators to receive earnings through PayPal stablecoin PYUSD, Odaily Planet Daily boldly asserts that 2026 will become a "critical turning point" for the crypto industry and the crypto payment sector. Based on the above information, we will make the following judgments about the future direction of crypto payments.
Judgment 1: Revolutionary Changes in Stablecoin "Gateways"
As mentioned in the a16z report — "The core unresolved issue is: how to connect these digital dollars with the financial systems people use daily — that is, the entry and exit channels for stablecoins."
Currently, mainstream methods on the market include exchange c2c trading, payment giants' exchange networks, and stablecoin issuer channels. Next year, numerous stablecoin networks under major payment giants will gradually go live (such as the Tempo network supported by Stripe and Paradigm). At that time, the "gateway" for stablecoins will achieve deeper integration with traditional financial markets, daily payment networks, and everyday transaction scenarios.
If domestic mobile payments have solved a series of usage scenarios, cost compression, and promotion issues through QR code solutions and digital red envelopes, then the introduction of regional and global payment networks under payment giants will provide a more convenient user experience for stablecoin entry and exit, lower transaction costs, and a smoother process for converting fiat to stablecoins.
In addition, the 2B merchant usage aspect is also expected to usher in a new growth period with the further improvement of regulatory legislation, the gradual enrichment of mobile applications, and the enhancement of payment efficiency.
Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a "Peer-to-Peer" electronic payment system will be realized through stablecoins.
Judgment 2: Integration of RWA Assets and Stablecoins to Foster On-Chain Lending
At the crossroads of DeFi and TradFi, RWA assets are of utmost importance.
However, in the past, RWA assets were limited by the complexity of off-chain assets and fixed product forms, making it difficult to achieve complete "on-chain transformation"; at the same time, the anchored value and pricing of RWA assets often varied due to regional differences, time changes, and industry disparities.
With the traditional financial market facing the liquidity devaluation shock brought by interest rate cuts, the stablecoin system may transform the on-chain and off-chain trading systems for RWA assets.
In other words, in 2026, RWA assets may achieve stablecoin pricing through banking systems and payment networks, exploring various aspects such as RWA contracts, RWA lending, and RWA asset mergers and acquisitions.
This year, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange has already shown signs of actively submitting a stock tokenization trading application to the SEC, and next year, based on the "first stablecoin IPO" Circle's stablecoin USDC and the "stablecoin leader" Tether's USAT stablecoin, more scenarios may arise where stablecoins purchase traditional financial market products and participate in traditional financial market trading processes and more segments.
As mentioned in the a16z report, "perpetual contracts" are expected to provide deeper liquidity for RWA assets, the tokenization of crypto-native RWA assets will further develop; after meeting compliance and standardization requirements, on-chain lending will also experience rapid growth.
Judgment 3: The Arrival of the Internet-as-Bank Model, AI Agents, x402 Protocol, and Stablecoins Will Provide More Possibilities
This change may become the new starting point for the "mass adoption wave of crypto" that is most anticipated in 2026.
Just like the "YouTube adds payment to creators via PayPal stablecoin," with the rapid development of AI Agents, the gradual expansion of the x402 protocol, and its penetration into more life, work, and business scenarios, stablecoins and cryptocurrencies will "financially transform" the entire internet, leading to a series of astonishing changes —
1. Integration of online and on-chain payments, significantly improving transaction efficiency. From the past "what you see is what you get" to the future "what you think is what you buy," the combination of AI Agents and stablecoin payment systems will meet various internet shopping needs. The selection of products, insights into demand, and payment convenience will undergo revolutionary changes.
2. Internet products can be tokenized and quantified for payment. With the expansion of stablecoin payment networks, many internet products (both tangible and intangible) will be quantifiable in stablecoins, and based on convenient entry and exit channels, buyers and sellers can efficiently exchange goods and currency without intermediaries, losses, or long turnaround times.
3. Further stimulation of the virtual digital economy. Whether it is current YouTube creators or various roles providing online virtual services, they will further supplement the online economy, and the stablecoin payment system will become a more efficient choice. Compared to the past, where supporting virtual idols required purchasing merchandise, offline support, and physical meet-ups, the convenient and quick "direct payment" may become the choice of many.
Judgment 4: Entering the Era of Universal Finance, Lowering Investment Barriers
This may be the most intuitive and far-reaching aspect of the further development of stock tokenization and the stablecoin system.
Limited by the structure and regulatory policies of the past banking financial system and securities trading market, ordinary individual users often find it difficult to participate in the economic financial market and capital efficiency market with low thresholds, low costs, and small shares; however, in the coming year and beyond, as stock tokenization platforms, processes, and regulatory environments mature, combined with AI investment advisory roles and investment opinion references, everyone will become an indispensable and interconnected part of the financial system.
In the not-so-distant 2026, purchasing SpaceX IPO shares for one dollar may become possible; investing a small amount of funds into DeFi funding platforms jointly launched by the banking system and crypto-native projects with annual yields slightly higher than government bonds may also be a good choice.
Most importantly, the tokenization and fragmentation of assets will further enhance capital utilization efficiency and inject deeper liquidity into the global economic financial market.
At that time, with the help of tokenization systems and stablecoin networks, everyone will be a node in the financial network. Of course, this will inevitably come with risks, but it will also truly give individuals the right to make investment choices.
Judgment 5: The Battle of Stablecoins Will Continue, User Dividends Will Always Exist
In 2025, the main tone of the crypto industry will be mainstreaming, regulatory compliance, and institutional adoption, while next year will be a more intense "battle of stablecoins."
This year's competition for the Hyperliquid native stablecoin code USDH is just a prelude and a small reflection of the upcoming chaos in the stablecoin industry next year, and compared to USDT, Circle's USDC may face more intense competition and lose more market share.
Just like the previous "battle of food delivery" and "battle of ride-hailing," the heated competition on the supply side will, to some extent, bring asymmetric benefits to the demand side, and ordinary users are expected to continue receiving good stablecoin usage subsidies or other economic incentive returns.
The compliance exchange OSL Group in Hong Kong and the comprehensive Solana ecosystem platform Jupiter are both "venturing" into stablecoins, which also means that more compliant institutions and crypto service platforms will launch their native stablecoins to gain advantageous positions in payment networks, commercial revenue, and user growth.
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