a16z｜2026 Crypto 17 Major Trends(@KeyMapDAO)

Trend 1: Smarter and More Efficient Stablecoin On/Off-Ramps

Trend 2: RWA Tokenization Will Become More 'Crypto-Native'

Trend 3: Stablecoins Are Driving the 'Upgrade Cycle' of Bank Ledgers

Trend 4: The Internet Will Evolve into a New 'Bank'

Trend 5: Comprehensive Wealth Management for All

Trend 6: From KYC to KYA — The Era of AI Agents' Identity

Trend 7: AI Will Participate in High-Level Research, Becoming a 'New Type of Researcher'

Trend 8: The Open Internet is Being Taxed 'Invisibly' by AI Agents

Trend 9: Privacy Will Become the Strongest 'Moat' for Chains

Trend 10: Future Messaging Systems Will Be Not Only Quantum-Safe but Also Fully Decentralized

Trend 11: Prediction Markets + Real-Time Settlement: New Types of On-Chain Financial Products

Trend 12: SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Proofs) Will Move Towards More Real-World Applications

Trend 13: Games Will Use On-Chain Assets to Build New Economic Systems

Trend 14: More Modular On-Chain Development Methods Will Become Mainstream

Trend 15: Next-Generation Development Tools Will Be Driven by AI + Crypto

Trend 16: 'On-Chain Native Enterprises' Will Emerge

Trend 17: Open Ecosystems Will Prevail Over 'Super Apps'