SNZ-NTU CCTF Releases "Top Ten Blockchain Industry Trends for 2026"
- Core Viewpoint: A report jointly released by SNZ Holding and Nanyang Technological University indicates that Web3 is transitioning from speculative experimentation to verifiable financial infrastructure, and distills ten key industry trends for 2026.
- Key Elements:
- The evolving role of stablecoins, shifting from a crypto-denominated unit of account to a focal point of discussion for a global payment and settlement layer.
- Real-World Assets (RWA) are progressing from the pilot stage to becoming composable financial instruments within DeFi.
- Technologies such as smart accounts, intent-based execution, and zero-knowledge proofs are dedicated to bringing on-chain interactions into the mainstream user experience track.
- The report's ten trends cover multiple core areas including on-chain finance, payments, user experience, privacy compliance, security, DePIN, AI, and governance.
- The report integrates industry insights with academic research, aiming to provide forward-looking references for industry builders and decision-makers.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, we bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. At this pivotal moment connecting the past and future, we are delighted to share with you the "Top 10 Blockchain Industry Trends for 2026," jointly produced by the SNZ Holding research team and the Nanyang Technological University Centre for Computational Finance (NTU-CCTF) — now officially released! (Read the full report)
Looking back from the vantage point of early 2026, Web3 is undergoing a profound transformation: evolving from early speculative experiments towards verifiable financial infrastructure. Stablecoins are no longer just a unit of account for the crypto market but are being widely discussed as a settlement layer for global payments; RWA assets are moving beyond the pilot stage to become composable financial instruments within DeFi; technologies like smart accounts, intent-based execution, and zero-knowledge proofs are bringing on-chain interactions onto the expected trajectory of mainstream user experience.
Based on a systematic review of technological progress, market dynamics, and cutting-edge academic research, we have distilled the ten most noteworthy trends for 2026 in this report:
1. On-chain Treasuries and Cash Management: RWA Moves from Concept to Product
2. Stablecoins: A New Focal Point for Global Payments in 2026
3. The Era of Smart Accounts: Returning On-chain Interaction to Everyday User Experience
4. From "Manually Constructing Transactions" to "Goal-Based Execution + Backend Bidding"
5. Zero-Knowledge Proofs: From Privacy Feature to Infrastructure for Verifiable Computation
6. Privacy and Compliance: From Trade-offs to Verifiable Engineering Balance
7. Shared Security and Restaking: Redefining Security Budgets as Tradable Economic Resources
8. DePIN Networks: From Incentive-Driven Narratives to Verifiable Engineering
9. Decentralized AI: From Narrative Hype to Engineering Practice
10. Token Governance: From Voting Procedures Back to the Institutional Design of Rights and Responsibilities
This report combines SNZ Holding's industry insights in the Web3 space with NTU-CCTF's academic research accumulation, aiming to provide a forward-looking and practical reference guide for industry builders, researchers, and decision-makers.
We welcome you to download, read, and share it, and we look forward to witnessing the realization and evolution of these trends together with everyone in 2026! Happy Lunar New Year's Eve, and best wishes for the Year of the Fire Horse!
