The year 2020-2025 was a year of both record highs and record lows for Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins.
With only a few days left until the end of 2025, Bitcoin continues to remain below the psychological level of $100,000, while predictions and expectations for 2026 have begun to emerge.
Accordingly, the US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has published a report outlining its expectations for 2026.
According to A16z’s report, in 2026 the cryptocurrency industry will focus on native RWA issuances, stablecoin payment infrastructure upgrades, the rise of AI economies, the creation of on-chain privacy infrastructure, banking system regulations, and new application scenarios such as prediction markets.
However, the report focused primarily on stablecoins. In this regard, a16z analysts emphasized that the stablecoin market has surpassed traditional payment systems, stating that stablecoins have reached an annual transaction volume of $46 trillion. The analysts argued that stablecoins have a transaction volume more than 20 times that of PayPal and 3 times that of Visa, significantly outpacing global payment giants and becoming a new global payment infrastructure.
Analysts also highlighted the importance of the Genius Act, passed in the US this summer, regarding stablecoins, writing the following:
“Today, you can send a stablecoin in less than a second and for less than a cent. At this point, the stablecoin market has even surpassed PayPal and Visa.”
However, this vast ecosystem is still not widespread enough for daily use. The real unresolved issue remains how to connect these digital dollars to the financial infrastructure that people use every day. At this point, a new generation of entrepreneurs and companies are trying to fill this gap and connect stablecoins to more familiar payment systems and local currencies. Companies are trying to enable users to spend directly with cards and wallets by offering solutions that integrate with local payment networks and support QR codes and real-time transfers.
a16z analysts addressed tokenization as a second issue, arguing that large financial institutions are lagging behind in this area. However, the analysts stated that tokenization will further develop and will not simply involve creating a digital copy of the underlying asset.
Analysts also stated that the biggest competition in the cryptocurrency market in 2026 will be among privacy-focused blockchains.
Analysts also added that the forecast markets are expected to continue growing.
*This is not investment advice.