A leading compliance platform recently released a forecast analysis of the crypto market for 2026, bluntly pointing out one viewpoint: 2026 will be a watershed year for the crypto industry, as the entire market is undergoing a transformation in identification—from a purely investment target to a truly usable infrastructure within the global financial system.

This may sound a bit abstract, but the logic behind it is quite clear. In the past, when we talked about crypto assets, it mainly revolved around buying and selling transactions, earning profits. But the trend is clearly different now – on-chain settlement, collateral applications, enterprise fund management, blockchain space scheduling, these are no longer marginal topics, but are gradually being integrated into the daily operations of traditional finance.

From another perspective, the encryption infrastructure has shifted from being "held" to being "used". This transformation is reflected in multiple areas: it has become part of the settlement layer, a tool for optimizing capital efficiency, and a carrier for digital financial channels. Rather than being an alternative market, it is more accurate to say that it is being embedded into the very marrow of the existing financial system.

Why is there a particular emphasis on the year 2026? It is not triggered by a sudden event, but rather a convergence of several long-term trends at the same time. On one side, the regulatory framework is gradually moving from discussion and legislation stages to a truly executable, implementable phase. On the other side, on-chain technology continues to iterate and mature, and institutional financial tools are also being refined. The convergence of these two forces around 2026 reveals a structural turning point.

In simple terms, it means that there are regulations to follow, the technology is solid enough, and the compatibility between traditional finance and the crypto market has increased unprecedentedly. This is not just a matter of market sentiment or short-term trends, but a fundamental reshaping of the entire ecological positioning.