#深度创作营 2026 Web3 Mainstream Sector Development Forecast

Predicted main sector popularity levels are categorized into S, A, B, C, and D grades:

S Grade ——————
Tokenization: RWA (Real World Assets) market capitalization continues to hit new highs (over $20 billion), with more stocks and commodities being tokenized. As traditional funds and custodial institutions expand across major platforms, RWA scale is rapidly increasing.
Stablecoins: The stablecoin market exceeds $300 billion and is becoming a channel for foreign exchange, payments, bank cards, and emerging banking distribution, serving as a bridge for cryptocurrencies to real-world applications. Prediction markets: Trading volume and user numbers in prediction markets keep reaching new heights. As major crypto applications and traditional financial firms integrate prediction markets, adoption is accelerating.
Perpetual Contracts: Perpetual contracts still dominate crypto trading volume, with derivatives trading far surpassing spot trading. On-chain perpetual contract platforms have matched centralized exchanges in trading volume, exceeding $1 trillion per month.

A Grade ——————
BTCfi: Bitcoin is transforming into productive capital, with billions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin used for staking, yield, and collateralization. Babylon and Lombard hold significant shares of Bitcoin staking total value locked (TVL).
Privacy: As more traditional financial capital enters the blockchain space, selective disclosure becomes crucial. Institutions need privacy protections that meet compliance requirements for payments, identity, and corporate fund flows.
Artificial Intelligence: AI and cryptocurrencies are continuously evolving, becoming tools for data, agents, and verifiable computation with huge potential and scale.
DeFi: DeFi is shifting toward consumer applications, offering in-app DEX trading and USDC lending via Morpho. Total DeFi TVL has hit record highs, with new consumer applications emerging rapidly.

B Grade ——————
Chain Abstraction: As smart accounts, intent, and embedded wallets reduce friction, blockchains become less visible. Major improvements in user experience are vital for widespread adoption, though development is slower. InfoFi: Despite recent negative headlines, InfoFi remains the alchemy of data markets, incentive mechanisms, and tradable signals. Major changes are imminent in this field.
Robotics: Progress has been less than expected. Hardware and deployment speeds lag behind those of cryptocurrencies, mainly involving early infrastructure development.
Zero-Knowledge Proofs: ZKPs are core technology but are complex as trading assets. Most value flows into ecosystems that scale applications of ZKP rather than ZKP itself. Infrastructure needs (RPC, indexing, interoperability, data availability) are essential and demand persists. Competition is fierce, but some excellent projects still have opportunities to stand out.

C Grade ——————
Staking / Re-staking: Re-staking exists but yields are declining, and the risks of penalties are real. Its complexity also deters retail investors, and previous hype was somewhat exaggerated. DePIN: The best prospects for DePIN lie in integration and collaboration with the real world, but many projects progress slowly. Regulatory issues and lack of sustainable funding are major obstacles. L1/L2: Rollup technology is mature, but new public chains perform poorly. Most value is shifting toward applications, liquidity, and distribution rather than new underlying protocols.
SocialFi: Although activity peaks occasionally, user retention and sustainable product-market fit are difficult to achieve in the short term.

D Grade ——————
GameFi: The P2E (Play-to-Earn) model has flaws. While some blockchain games are still running, most GameFi projects are just DeFi with a gaming veneer, offering poor user experience.
NFT: We’ve repeatedly tried to bring NFTs back to prominence, but the market has sent a clear message. Without new use cases beyond JPEGs and PFPs, NFTs face difficulties. Even game integrations are no longer popular.
Meme Coins: The supercycle of Meme Coins is noteworthy, but liquidity is flowing toward more legitimate projects, and Meme Coins’ dominance is waning. Retail investors are tired of losses and chasing the next 100x coin.
Modularization: Architecture is important, but the narrative is poor. Since users don’t care much, investors only pay attention when clear, feasible value capture methods exist; most modular projects lack such pathways.

Which sector do you believe in? Share your thoughts in the comments!