2026: The Large-Scale Integration and Technological Reconfiguration of Cryptocurrencies

In recent years, the annual trading volume of stablecoins has surpassed $4.6 trillion—more than 20 times PayPal’s size and nearly three times the scale of Visa transactions. This not only signifies a number but also indicates that cryptocurrency technology is transforming from a purely speculative field into a new generation of financial and internet infrastructure. Top Silicon Valley venture capital fund a16z recently released 17 forward-looking predictions, outlining the true picture of this integration.

Rise of the AI Agent Economy: Infrastructure Needs for Digital Identity

Currently, the number of AI agents far exceeds that of humans. In financial services, the “non-human identity” to real employee ratio is as high as 96:1, yet these digital entities are like “ghosts” and cannot access banking systems.

This has created unprecedented infrastructure demands—upgrading from traditional “Know Your Customer” to “Know Your Agent.” AI agents need cryptographic signatures to obtain credentials for executing transactions related to authorization, permissions, and accountability. Building this identity verification system may only take a few months, rather than the decades-long cycle typical of traditional financial infrastructure.

Even more surprisingly, the capabilities of AI models have broken through ceilings. From vague understanding of workflows at the beginning of the year to precise execution of abstract instructions by year’s end (similar to communicating with a doctoral student), the progress of these models is remarkable. Some top models can even independently solve Putnam Mathematical Competition problems—which is one of the most difficult university-level math competitions worldwide. This signals a new “generalist research” paradigm: AI can foresee correlations across different fields, extract valid conclusions from speculative answers, and even utilize model “hallucinations” to discover entirely new things.

Reconstructing the Financial Foundation with Stablecoins: From “Patches” to “New Systems”

Global financial infrastructure is facing a historic turning point. Most global assets are still stored in COBOL systems and batch processing interfaces written decades ago, rather than modern API architectures.

Stablecoins are becoming the “upgrade patch” for this outdated system. Financial institutions can leverage stablecoins to quickly launch new products and serve new customers without rewriting legacy systems entirely. The $4.6 trillion trading volume last year is strong evidence of this trend.

Meanwhile, new startups are filling the gap in “fiat on/off ramps.” They integrate digital dollars with existing payment systems and local currencies, leveraging cryptographic proofs, regional network integration, and cross-chain wallet interoperability layers to promote seamless value flow globally.

The true innovation direction is “native on-chain financing”—not simply tokenizing off-chain assets. In the future, cross-border workers will receive real-time salaries, retailers will accept global dollars without bank accounts, and applications will settle value instantly with users worldwide.

Value Internet: A Fundamental Transformation of the Financial Layer

The internet itself is evolving into a banking system. As AI agents appear at scale and automate backend operations, the way capital flows must change fundamentally.

In a world based on “intent” rather than “step-by-step instructions,” the speed and convenience of value transfer must match information flow. Infrastructure components like x402 will make settlement programmable and reactive.

Agents will be able to pay each other instantly and permissionlessly for data, GPU time, or API calls, completely bypassing traditional invoicing, reconciliation, and batch processes. Software updates released by developers can embed payment rules, limits, and audit trails, without involving fiat or banks. Payments will no longer be a separate operational layer but will become part of network behavior itself.

Privacy and Security: The Ultimate Fortress of Cryptocurrency

For most blockchains, privacy was once a secondary concern, but now it can be a core differentiator between networks. Privacy creates a “chain migration lock-in” effect—when information is kept private, migrating from one chain to another becomes difficult because crossing private and public chain boundaries leaks metadata.

Decentralized communication protocols are emerging. As the world prepares for quantum computing, mainstream instant messaging apps have adopted quantum encryption but still rely on privately operated servers controlled by single entities. In open networks, no individual, company, or country can deprive users of their communication rights; apps may disappear, but users always control their information and identities.

DeFi security is also evolving—from “code is law” to “standards are law.” Recent hacks of mature DeFi protocols show that security practices still heavily depend on heuristics. Future security approaches will focus more on design properties, real-time monitoring, and enforcement, embedding key security features directly into “runtime assertions.”

Democratization of Wealth Management: AI-Enabled Active Investing

Traditionally, personalized wealth management services were limited to high-net-worth banking clients because customized advice across asset classes was costly and complex. As more asset classes are tokenized, cryptographic channels enable AI-recommended personalized strategies to be deployed and rebalanced instantly and cheaply.

This is not just about robo-advisors but active portfolio management for everyone. Platforms born for “wealth accumulation” rather than just “wealth preservation” will emerge by 2026. Fintech companies like Revolut, Robinhood, and centralized exchanges like Coinbase will leverage technological advantages to capture larger market shares.

Meanwhile, DeFi tools like Morpho Vaults automatically allocate assets in lending markets with optimal risk-adjusted returns. Excess liquidity stored in stablecoins rather than fiat, and investments in tokenized money market funds, further expand yield possibilities. This integration will truly unlock retail investors’ investment potential.

Alignment of Regulatory Frameworks and Technical Architectures

Over the past decade, the biggest obstacle to building blockchain networks in the US has been regulatory uncertainty. Legislative initiatives like the CLARITY Act aim to establish clear regulatory frameworks for digital asset markets, eliminating regulatory fog that hinders innovation. The act adopts a control-based “maturity framework,” allowing blockchain projects to introduce digital commodities to the public without excessive regulation.

More importantly, crypto companies are shifting from trading to building. a16z warns that companies engaging in trading too early may miss the opportunity to develop more defensible and durable businesses. Founders focusing on the “product” part of product-market fit are likely to be the bigger winners in the end.

Advances in proof generation technologies like Jolt zkVM significantly reduce the computational costs of zero-knowledge proofs. By 2026, a single GPU might be able to generate real-time CPU execution proofs. As AI agents begin autonomous browsing, trading, and decision-making, and as value flows freely like information, the financial system will no longer be a mirror of the physical world but will become an embedded infrastructure of the internet itself. This moment—the key node highlighted by a16z partner Ali Yahya—is when privacy becomes the ultimate moat of cryptocurrency, marking the transition of this technology from the fringes to the mainstream, from a speculative tool to a foundational protocol.