Crypto has a talent for reinventing itself just when the rest of the world starts forgetting about it. One year, it’s NFTs and memecoins; the next, it’s institutions, infrastructure, and very serious people saying tokenization in boardrooms. And while price action will always steal the spotlight, 2026 is shaping up to be less about what trends on social media and more about what quietly becomes standard.
In other words: expect fewer magic tricks, more machinery. Stablecoins will behave like payment rails, tokenized Treasuries will begin to resemble traditional assets, and self-custody will cease to be a niche philosophy and become a practical necessity.
We highlight five major, high-conviction predictions for what will likely define the crypto landscape in 2026, based on the strongest institutional and market signals heading into the year.
TL;DR
Tokenized Treasuries lead the tokenization boom
Stablecoins become mainstream fintech payment rails
Institutional capital becomes the main driver of 2026 winners
1. Tokenization goes mainstream
2026 is likely to be the year tokenization stops being a pilot program and becomes a core piece of financial infrastructure. The clearest wedge is tokenized U.S. Treasuries, because the product-market fit is obvious: dollar yield, 24/7 settlement, composability, and fewer intermediaries.
CoinShares expects tokenized Treasuries to continue driving RWA growth in 2026, with the broader implication being that once this instrument becomes more mainstream, private credit, funds, real estate, and structured products will likely follow suit.
This matters because tokenized treasuries function as “yield-bearing collateral” for DeFi and institutions, thereby increasing liquidity and establishing a bridge between TradFi and on-chain markets.
2. Stablecoins become the default payment rail for global money movement
Stablecoins are on a trajectory to become the backbone for cross-border transactions and consumer fintech. Reuters reported that Klarna plans to launch a dollar-backed stablecoin, which is expected to go live in 2026, following similar moves by other major firms, including PayPal and Stripe.
This indicates a major shift; stablecoins are moving from crypto-native usage to consumer-grade payments and merchant infrastructure.
We believe that stablecoins will stop being a crypto thing and become a regular product embedded inside fintech apps, wallets, and commerce platforms.
3. ETFs and institutional access expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum
The largest structural change in 2026 is likely to be the continued expansion of regulated crypto investment vehicles. Coinbase Institutional argues that clearer regulation and accelerated institutional integration will deepen the role of crypto in core finance in 2026.
In the U.S., the SEC has already approved in-kind creations/redemptions for crypto ETPs, aligning them more closely with commodity-based ETP mechanics and improving efficiency. Meanwhile, the agency has also been moving toward making spot crypto ETF listing processes easier, supporting the broader trend that ETFs won’t stop with BTC and ETH.
4. Bitcoin expands into a full ecosystem
Bitcoin’s identity is evolving. Beyond being a store of value, it’s increasingly becoming a settlement base for new layers and new asset ecosystems (Ordinals, Runes, and various Bitcoin L2 designs). This trend is also discussed across the ecosystem, including the growth of Bitcoin Layer 2 experimentation and the emergence of a new Bitcoin-native application space.
5. The next growth phase is institutional
By 2026, the dominant marginal buyer is increasingly institutional. Offices have increased exposure and are shifting from experimenting to structured allocations, but also that the cycle rewards infrastructure and credible adoption more than hype. 2026 will favor:
infrastructure (wallets, custody, compliance)
tokenized yield products
networks with real-world enterprise adoption
assets with a clear regulatory footing
If 2024 and 2025 were about proving crypto could survive, 2026 looks like the year it proves it can mature. The biggest shifts won’t come from one viral token or one headline-grabbing rally. They’ll come from the slow, deliberate stuff: regulated access, real-world assets moving on-chain, stablecoins becoming infrastructure, and better security standards becoming non-negotiable.
This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Investing in Web3 and cryptocurrencies involves risks. It is essential to conduct your own research before engaging with any Web3 apps or cryptocurrencies.
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