In 2026, we expect the stablecoins growth to accelerate further, driven by new neobank initiatives, and DeFi to grow into older chains and consumer-facing applications like exchanges and banks. Below are the six trends we think will shape that shift, and the areas where Sentora is positioned to lead.

1. Explosive growth in stablecoin issuance under the GENIUS Act

Stablecoins are already a roughly $300 billion market, but 2026 is when distribution changes further. The GENIUS Act framework provided significant clarity and guidelines this year and fintechs and neobanks will help accelerate the growth of stablecoins by issuing new stablecoin products and offering them to their customers. Expect dozens of new, compliant products from consumer and business finance brands that already own the user relationship, the checkout flow, and the deposit experience.

That creates a new competitive game for incumbents. The winners will expand functionality across both traditional rails and crypto native venues, with deeper integrations into payments, treasury management, and collateral use. Sentora is built for this moment. Our advisory practice is already embedded with leading issuers, including PayPal and Ripple, and that work scales directly as more brands enter and complexity rises.

2. Exchange Earn program Innovation

Earn is not a new idea, but exchange earn programs have seen little innovation in recent years. The difference in 2026 is that exchanges expect room to operate again, and they are preparing product relaunches with clearer guardrails and better value propositions. The playbook looks familiar, but the execution will be more institutional, with tighter risk frameworks, clearer disclosures, and more disciplined counterparties.

DeFi will key for this trend to develop. The industry has recovered meaningfully from the lows, with total value locked back in the neighborhood of $150 billion plus. When exchanges reconnect that demand to on chain yield, volumes follow quickly. Sentora is positioned to be the connective tissue here, supporting most of the largest players with program design, risk tooling, and partner selection.

3. DeFi adoption through neobank integrations

As mentioned before, fintechs and neobanks are increasingly looking at crypto initiatives, and this interest reaches further than stablecoins. The bigger distribution story sits with fintechs building neobanks on stablecoins and DeFi yield. These organizations want stablecoin rails, compliant yield, and a controlled user experience. These will be the new products that are going to bring crypto to the masses in 2026, boosting DeFi TVL and adoption across the board.

4. DeFi insurance becomes required, not optional

If traditional institutions are going to deploy at scale, they need protection that looks and behaves like insurance, not a marketing promise. The sector still struggles with that. Losses from exploits remain measured in the billions each year, and a single event can dominate quarterly headlines.
This is why we developed Firelight. Firelight is designed to solve the two blockers that have limited DeFi insurance from day one, scale and economics. On scale, we use large, old generation assets like XRP with deep liquidity and low correlation to DeFi to support meaningful coverage capacity. On economics, Firelight follows the logic of traditional insurance, risk diversification, and structured leverage so the product can work for both buyer and provider.

5. Old generation chains move into DeFi 

Large chains from prior cycles have distribution and reserves, but struggled to grow DeFi because of limited smart contract support or non EVM languages. That changes as sidechains and compatibility layers mature. Ripple and Stellar are pushing into this direction. These ecosystems have scale and users to boost growth once compatibility is solved.

6. Tokenization of Equities

To date, tokenization has been driven mainly by interest bearing products like Securitize and BlackRock’s BUIDL, which grew past $2B in 2025, plus private credit efforts like Apollo’s ACRED. That wave proved the rails work, but it is also rate sensitive, and the impact will fade as the Fed cuts and private credit performance diverges. 

In 2026 we expect tokenized equities to pick up where these products left off. The prime broker and retail broker stack will be disrupted by equity perps and DeFi borrowing against stocks. The reason is simple: Retail owns the asset, but captures almost none of the collateral value banks and brokers extract through funding and securities lending. Tokenized equities change that by making stocks usable DeFi collateral, unlocking cheaper leverage against fully owned shares and the ability to earn yield on stocks and ETFs by borrowing into yield bearing assets. 

Where 2026 Becomes Durable Growth

What ties all of this together is that the market is moving from experimentation to distribution. In 2026, adoption won’t be driven by new narratives, it will be driven by products that are easier to access, easier to trust, and built with risk in mind. Stablecoins push crypto into everyday payment and treasury flows. DeFi becomes something institutions reach through familiar rails rather than niche interfaces. Insurance and chain compatibility remove two of the biggest blockers to deploying capital at scale. Tokenization follows the incentives, and equities are where the next wave of real volume and real users can show up. Put together, these shifts set the market up for sustained growth, not just another short cycle.