Crypto is entering its institutional and real-world utility era.

An industry once fueled by speculation has evolved into institutional-grade financial infrastructure, serving as an open-source-like financial internet layer for people around the world. Now, anyone can integrate their businesses, applications, or personal finances with these financial rails. Participating in the global economy has never been easier.

According to Animoca Brands Research’s Digital Assets Outlook 2026, the global shift to utilize tokens and blockchain infrastructure isn’t rooted in growth alone. Instead, the report credits the convergence between on-chain and off-chain assets, exchanges prioritizing universal asset exposure, and blockchain solutions operating behind the scenes of consumer-facing applications.

Animoca Brands Research has identified 10 crypto trends to look out for during 2026.

Off-chain asset pools like U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, equities, and private credit have already begun moving on-chain. 

In 2025, more than US$8 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries were tokenized, encompassing 46% of the overall US$18.8 billion tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector of the crypto market. The recent surge in tokenized treasuries represents a 3.4x multiple from the previous year.

Synthetic wrappers, a method used for offering on-chain exposure to off-chain assets, have become industry-accepted as a viable investment approach to capture yield generated by off-chain assets. However, the Animoca Brands Research team expects a native issuance model, where asset ownership interest is represented on-chain from inception, to take shape this year.

Perpetual futures, or “perps”, are becoming a widely adopted trading primitive for active digital asset traders. According to the Digital Assets Outlook 2026 report, we can expect the “perpification of everything”, where equities, ETFs, RWAs, and tokenized funds are increasingly traded via perpetual contracts.

Perps provide continuous liquidity, leverage, and risk management tools that bring 24/7 digital asset trading experiences closer to the professional trading expectations of traditional market venues.

Crypto exchanges and traditional brokers are racing toward the same goal of offering universal asset coverage. 

Crypto exchanges are implementing tokenized equities to enable on-chain market exposure to the price action of stocks, while traditional online brokers, like Robinhood, compete by integrating their products with crypto rails to offer tokenized assets and RWAs to retail investors. 

The Animoca Brands Research team anticipates tokenized equities to have a year of rapid growth.

Perpetual decentralized exchanges, or “Perp DEXs”, increasingly power trading functionality for crypto wallets, fintech apps, and consumer retail platforms.

In 2026, popular retail apps will adopt Perp DEXs to operate as a behind-the-scenes trading engine, completely abstracted away from the user experience. The intended result will improve user retention for platforms, and provide a much simpler trading experience to the end user.

Off-chain investors may start operating on-chain without knowing it.

The widely-adopted digital asset treasury model of 2025 is coming to an inflection point.

DATs acquire and manage large amounts of token reserves from their balance sheets. According to the latest Animoca Brands Research report, 225 digital asset treasury companies (DATs) hold a combined token value of US$180 billion. Unfortunately, Q4 of 2025 was turbulent and created tough market conditions for some digital asset treasuries.

While most DATs operate as proxies for traditional investors to gain indirect market exposure to Bitcoin, or often to Ethereum’s smart contract blockchain layer, the research suggests that struggling treasuries may need to consolidate while prominent models diversify beyond digital assets into traditional off-chain assets.

DATs will evolve with market conditions by applying traditional finance fundamentals to strategic digital asset accumulation.

As stablecoins become formally regulated, we could be in for a year of widespread stablecoin adoption across local economies and numerous industries.

Blockchain’s institutional-grade financial rails are being built into mainstream applications and financial services, like Stripe and Visa, enabling consumers to perform stablecoin transactions without needing prerequisite digital asset experience. 

This year, the Animoca Brands Research team expects a diverse wave of regulated stablecoins to be issued, and fuel market share growth of non-USD stablecoins by 5x.

DeFi lending protocols are expanding beyond crypto-backed loans to enable a variety of financial services.

On-chain vaults now act as interfaces for institutional access to both digital and real-world asset exposure. Additionally, some vault structures allow external curator liquidity provision across market sectors to optimize for yield and risk. Morpho Vaults, which power Coinbase’s lending/borrowing services, are soon expected to introduce fixed-rate and fixed-term markets.  

The Digital Assets Outlook 2026 report suggests liquidity will continue to scale through innovative vault structures this year, and vaults will become viable investment containers for experienced asset managers.

Mass adoption takes place as globally-recognized brands implement blockchains and tokens to improve their products or services.

Regulatory frameworks such as the CLARITY Act are anticipated to lower risk barriers for enterprise participation on-chain. Major retail brands are already improving their customer loyalty programs and commerce opportunities through blockchain infrastructure. These brands are well-positioned catalysts for sparking consumer crypto adoption, and will legitimize the use of tokens in everyday applications.

Consumers can anticipate new blockchains and token launches from their favorite brands in 2026.

Tokens are the native standard of AI commerce.

Agentic payments require a programmable form of digital money in order to carry out transactions. We can expect stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies to further fulfill this role, enabling the use of AI agents to streamline commerce in 2026. Animoca Brands Research points to a likelihood of agent-to-agent transactions taking place as an accepted business practice this year.

2026 is shaping up to be the year AI agents impact supply chains by conducting purchases on behalf of businesses and individuals.

As blockchain adoption scales, the ability to conduct private transactions has become necessary for specific business operations to take place on-chain.

On-chain transactions typically allow anyone to view transaction details, such as currency amounts, wallet addresses, and timestamps via public ledger access. Blockchain participants and businesses are now adopting zero-knowledge proofs to transact with an added layer of privacy.

ZK-proofs abstract sensitive data away from publicly accessible transactions, enabling opportunities for digital identity infrastructure and private transactions to successfully take place on-chain.

Animoca Brands Research’s Digital Assets Outlook 2026 reinforces the end of digital asset trends correlating with hype cycles, and anticipates the next evolution of blockchain infrastructure developing a higher standard of market maturity to further integrate with the traditional finance industry.

Find the full research report to dig deeper into digital asset trends currently showing the potential of coming to fruition in 2026.

View the full report.

Animoca Brands: 

X/Twitter: @animocabrands 

Farcaster: @animocabrands

Website: https://www.animocabrands.com/

Animoca Brands Research:

X/Twitter: @animocaresearch 

Website: https://research.animocabrands.com/

Disclaimer: All content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Nothing should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any crypto assets. Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security, crypto asset, or third-party service. 

While we take the view that the information and data displayed is accurate, we make no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of any information or data displayed. We are not under any responsibility to update any of the information, data or statements made as new information becomes available.

Where any forward-looking statements, including future events and market trends, are made, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ from those expressed or implied. We are under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as new information becomes available. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

This website contains or references information and data provided by third-party data providers. Animoca Brands does not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or reliability of such information and data. All information and data are provided on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis.

Crypto is entering its institutional and real-world utility era.

An industry once fueled by speculation has evolved into institutional-grade financial infrastructure, serving as an open-source-like financial internet layer for people around the world. Now, anyone can integrate their businesses, applications, or personal finances with these financial rails. Participating in the global economy has never been easier.

According to Animoca Brands Research’s Digital Assets Outlook 2026, the global shift to utilize tokens and blockchain infrastructure isn’t rooted in growth alone. Instead, the report credits the convergence between on-chain and off-chain assets, exchanges prioritizing universal asset exposure, and blockchain solutions operating behind the scenes of consumer-facing applications.

Animoca Brands Research has identified 10 crypto trends to look out for during 2026.

Off-chain asset pools like U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, equities, and private credit have already begun moving on-chain. 

In 2025, more than US$8 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries were tokenized, encompassing 46% of the overall US$18.8 billion tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector of the crypto market. The recent surge in tokenized treasuries represents a 3.4x multiple from the previous year.

Synthetic wrappers, a method used for offering on-chain exposure to off-chain assets, have become industry-accepted as a viable investment approach to capture yield generated by off-chain assets. However, the Animoca Brands Research team expects a native issuance model, where asset ownership interest is represented on-chain from inception, to take shape this year.

Perpetual futures, or “perps”, are becoming a widely adopted trading primitive for active digital asset traders. According to the Digital Assets Outlook 2026 report, we can expect the “perpification of everything”, where equities, ETFs, RWAs, and tokenized funds are increasingly traded via perpetual contracts.

Perps provide continuous liquidity, leverage, and risk management tools that bring 24/7 digital asset trading experiences closer to the professional trading expectations of traditional market venues.

Crypto exchanges and traditional brokers are racing toward the same goal of offering universal asset coverage. 

Crypto exchanges are implementing tokenized equities to enable on-chain market exposure to the price action of stocks, while traditional online brokers, like Robinhood, compete by integrating their products with crypto rails to offer tokenized assets and RWAs to retail investors. 

The Animoca Brands Research team anticipates tokenized equities to have a year of rapid growth.

Perpetual decentralized exchanges, or “Perp DEXs”, increasingly power trading functionality for crypto wallets, fintech apps, and consumer retail platforms.

In 2026, popular retail apps will adopt Perp DEXs to operate as a behind-the-scenes trading engine, completely abstracted away from the user experience. The intended result will improve user retention for platforms, and provide a much simpler trading experience to the end user.

Off-chain investors may start operating on-chain without knowing it.

The widely-adopted digital asset treasury model of 2025 is coming to an inflection point.

DATs acquire and manage large amounts of token reserves from their balance sheets. According to the latest Animoca Brands Research report, 225 digital asset treasury companies (DATs) hold a combined token value of US$180 billion. Unfortunately, Q4 of 2025 was turbulent and created tough market conditions for some digital asset treasuries.

While most DATs operate as proxies for traditional investors to gain indirect market exposure to Bitcoin, or often to Ethereum’s smart contract blockchain layer, the research suggests that struggling treasuries may need to consolidate while prominent models diversify beyond digital assets into traditional off-chain assets.

DATs will evolve with market conditions by applying traditional finance fundamentals to strategic digital asset accumulation.

As stablecoins become formally regulated, we could be in for a year of widespread stablecoin adoption across local economies and numerous industries.

Blockchain’s institutional-grade financial rails are being built into mainstream applications and financial services, like Stripe and Visa, enabling consumers to perform stablecoin transactions without needing prerequisite digital asset experience. 

This year, the Animoca Brands Research team expects a diverse wave of regulated stablecoins to be issued, and fuel market share growth of non-USD stablecoins by 5x.

DeFi lending protocols are expanding beyond crypto-backed loans to enable a variety of financial services.

On-chain vaults now act as interfaces for institutional access to both digital and real-world asset exposure. Additionally, some vault structures allow external curator liquidity provision across market sectors to optimize for yield and risk. Morpho Vaults, which power Coinbase’s lending/borrowing services, are soon expected to introduce fixed-rate and fixed-term markets.  

The Digital Assets Outlook 2026 report suggests liquidity will continue to scale through innovative vault structures this year, and vaults will become viable investment containers for experienced asset managers.

Mass adoption takes place as globally-recognized brands implement blockchains and tokens to improve their products or services.

Regulatory frameworks such as the CLARITY Act are anticipated to lower risk barriers for enterprise participation on-chain. Major retail brands are already improving their customer loyalty programs and commerce opportunities through blockchain infrastructure. These brands are well-positioned catalysts for sparking consumer crypto adoption, and will legitimize the use of tokens in everyday applications.

Consumers can anticipate new blockchains and token launches from their favorite brands in 2026.

Tokens are the native standard of AI commerce.

Agentic payments require a programmable form of digital money in order to carry out transactions. We can expect stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies to further fulfill this role, enabling the use of AI agents to streamline commerce in 2026. Animoca Brands Research points to a likelihood of agent-to-agent transactions taking place as an accepted business practice this year.

2026 is shaping up to be the year AI agents impact supply chains by conducting purchases on behalf of businesses and individuals.

As blockchain adoption scales, the ability to conduct private transactions has become necessary for specific business operations to take place on-chain.

On-chain transactions typically allow anyone to view transaction details, such as currency amounts, wallet addresses, and timestamps via public ledger access. Blockchain participants and businesses are now adopting zero-knowledge proofs to transact with an added layer of privacy.

ZK-proofs abstract sensitive data away from publicly accessible transactions, enabling opportunities for digital identity infrastructure and private transactions to successfully take place on-chain.

Animoca Brands Research’s Digital Assets Outlook 2026 reinforces the end of digital asset trends correlating with hype cycles, and anticipates the next evolution of blockchain infrastructure developing a higher standard of market maturity to further integrate with the traditional finance industry.

Find the full research report to dig deeper into digital asset trends currently showing the potential of coming to fruition in 2026.

View the full report.

Animoca Brands: 

X/Twitter: @animocabrands 

Farcaster: @animocabrands

Website: https://www.animocabrands.com/

Animoca Brands Research:

X/Twitter: @animocaresearch 

Website: https://research.animocabrands.com/

Disclaimer: All content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Nothing should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any crypto assets. Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security, crypto asset, or third-party service. 

While we take the view that the information and data displayed is accurate, we make no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of any information or data displayed. We are not under any responsibility to update any of the information, data or statements made as new information becomes available.

Where any forward-looking statements, including future events and market trends, are made, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ from those expressed or implied. We are under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as new information becomes available. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

This website contains or references information and data provided by third-party data providers. Animoca Brands does not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or reliability of such information and data. All information and data are provided on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis.