I just read an interesting perspective from an analyst at Pantera Capital about what is expected to happen in 2026, and it aligns with what I’ve observed in the market.

Basically, the era of "Crypto as Industry" is coming to an end. 2026 will be a turning point where we see "Crypto as a Service" dominate the market. What does this mean? It means blockchain technology will cease to be the main display and will become just a behind-the-scenes tool that users don’t feel the presence of.

This is already evident: the crypto market operates 24/7 while stock markets are closed. When global risks emerge, Bitcoin still surges to $74,000. Commodities discover prices on Hyperliquid before traditional markets even open. Now, traditional hedge funds are flowing in. This is not just a random supply issue.

But the real story lies in investment examples. It seems Pantera has invested in projects that don’t focus heavily on blockchain. Novig is a sports betting platform, but they use a decentralized order book to give users odds of 23% instead of the 2% offered by traditional markets. Users don’t care what technology the backend uses; they just get better odds.

Based is a super app on Hyperliquid that makes the blockchain experience as smooth as leading fintech apps. Cross-chain connectivity, gas fees—all hidden. Users just get a good experience.

Doppler is infrastructure for issuing assets on chains. Think of it as Stripe but for digital assets. All functionalities are hidden behind a simple API.

This is what I see as a major shift. Over the past ten years, we focused on building "crypto marvels." Gas wars, TPS, modular infrastructure—all of that. In 2024, ETFs arrive. In 2025, infrastructure is complete. By 2026, it’s time for a change.

The new unicorns won’t be "L3 for AI-NFT" like in 2022. They will be companies that use blockchain to boost product efficiency tenfold but hide all the technology, opening markets worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

For entrepreneurs, the advice is straightforward: stop talking too much about technology. Focus on what real problems you solve. If your slides are about consensus mechanisms before customer profit, you’re still in 2022.

Real assets, AI agents, blockchain—they provide them with a "layer of truth" that is trustworthy through predictions and verifiable data. Payments via agents will accelerate this. All of this pushes forward.

Asia is particularly interesting. There, support from two-party governments, new institutional funding, and a commitment to consumer adoption are prominent. Cross-border payments with stablecoins, tokenization of gold, stocks, real estate—all will grow faster than in the West.

The key point is that "hiding" is more important than "pandemic spread." When technology becomes so seamless that people forget it exists, it enters every household. That’s when it truly becomes significant.