Cryptocurrency: From Asset Class to Technological Field

Author: Maartje Bus @ The Medici Network, Source: Messari 2026 Crypto Thesis; Translation: Golden Finance

For years, we have regarded cryptocurrencies as a single asset class because their past market performance indeed aligned with this characteristic. But today, this label has become misleading.

The Era of Divergence Begins

Cryptocurrencies are gradually shedding their identity as a “single asset class,” primarily because the price movements of different categories within the space are no longer converging, and their risk-return profiles are also diverging — two core factors that define an asset class.

Bitcoin’s current performance is increasingly akin to a macro store of value: its volatility has shown structural decline, institutional participation continues to deepen, and its price movements are becoming less correlated with other cryptocurrencies.

In contrast, Ethereum, mainstream public chains, and layer-2 ecosystems resemble high-growth technology infrastructure assets. Their value performance is directly linked to ecosystem adoption, transaction fee income, and application-layer activity, rather than being driven by overall market sentiment.

Pragmatism Surpasses Ideology

Beyond market performance, this divergence reflects deeper structural changes.

The core underlying technologies of blockchain and cryptocurrencies are gradually shedding the “alternative to the existing financial system” ideological halo, and are being redefined as infrastructure for reconstructing financial services and empowering new digital-native applications.

The early vision of “decentralization” as the ultimate goal is giving way to a more pragmatic development focus — emphasizing practicality, reliability, and cross-system compatibility.

Stablecoins are the most direct manifestation of this shift: they are widely used, deeply integrated into the existing financial circulation system, and have achieved a near “imperceptible” experience for end users at the technical level.

An increasing number of crypto-native functions (including lending, clearing and settlement, liquidity provision, etc.) are no longer presented as standalone decentralized products for users, but as underlying modules embedded within centralized or regulated application systems.

Cryptocurrencies: A New Member of the Tech Sector

If we exclude Bitcoin, which has become a distinct entity, then from both an economic logic and investment perspective, other segments of the crypto industry are no longer viewed as a single asset class. Instead, they are increasingly aligned with the tech industry — very similar to the development path of the internet industry.

The core link binding these segments is no longer converging price volatility but shared infrastructure such as blockchain, wallets, middleware, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

Value creation and investment opportunities are also distributed across multiple industry layers, achievable through tokens, publicly listed stocks, derivatives, credit products, structured instruments, and more — rather than being limited to a single, homogeneous trading target.

Future Outlook

This transformation is expected to accelerate further in 2026.

Blockchain infrastructure is speeding up its integration into real-world financial applications, moving beyond isolated decentralized products — stablecoins are already leading, followed by payments, lending, and clearing and settlement.

The trend of asset tokenization will continue to push traditional assets onto the blockchain, further blurring the boundaries of different asset classes.

The IPO pipeline for crypto-native companies is becoming increasingly rich, broadening the scope of investment targets; at the same time, financial super-apps built on digital wallets and blockchain infrastructure are gradually taking shape — these applications will integrate multiple services such as asset brokerage, payments, and credit into a single interface, providing one-stop solutions.

As cryptocurrencies gradually evolve into foundational infrastructure for finance, the features that once defined their industry (such as meme-driven narratives, ideology-first application design, and synchronized boom-bust cycles) will no longer be central.

Capital and R&D resources will increasingly focus on products with clear economic value and tangible utility for users, rather than applications that are purely decentralized for decentralization’s sake or tokenized for tokenization’s sake.

Conclusion

The core significance of this transformation lies in its complete redefinition of what “applying cryptocurrencies” means.

The widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies no longer depends on users actively purchasing tokens or deliberately “using crypto products,” but rather on whether blockchain infrastructure can become the core anchor layer for value transfer — currently exemplified by stablecoins, and in the future, supporting an increasingly rich array of tokenized assets.

Although these assets will migrate more and more onto the chain, user access and interaction will be conducted through wallets and various platforms, completely masking the complexity of underlying blockchain technology.

In this way, even as cryptocurrencies gradually fade from the public eye, the scale and economic influence of on-chain activity will continue to grow — this is the core hallmark of cryptocurrencies’ evolution from a trading asset class to a foundational tech sector.