Theme #3: Reach of Stablecoins to Grow in Wake of GENIUS Act

Relevant crypto assets: ETH, TRX, BNB, SOL, XPL, LINK

Stablecoins had their breakout moment in 2025: outstanding supply reached $300 billion and monthly transactions averaged $1.1 trillion per month over the six months ending in November[5], the U.S. Congress passed the GENIUS Act, and a wave of institutional capital poured into the industry (Exhibit 10). In 2026 we expect to see the practical results: stablecoins integrated into cross-border payments services, stablecoins as collateral on derivatives exchanges, stablecoins on corporate balance sheets, and stablecoins as an alternative to credit cards in online consumer payments. Continued growth in the popularity of prediction markets may also drive new demand for stablecoins. Higher stablecoin volumes should benefit the blockchains that record these transactions (e.g., ETH, TRX, BNB, and SOL, among many others), as well as a variety of supporting infrastructure (e.g., LINK) and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications (see Theme #7).