Four Pillars forecasts a year of restructuring for crypto in 2026

Global crypto research firm Four Pillars has published its 2026 Outlook: RESTRUCTURING report. According to CEO Steve Kim, this year began the crypto market's formal integration into the institutional framework in the U.S., with the passage of the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts redefining the sector under clear rules. He added that this regulatory clarity is driving tangible changes, such as a structural reorganization around real-world use cases, which is why the firm has dubbed 2026 a year of restructuring. The report, which features insights from all the firm's researchers, highlights several key trends for the coming year. These include the development of USDT super-apps and stock tokenization, AI-based automated investing, a shifting landscape for centralized exchanges and the rise of in-app DeFi, the maturation of smart contract platforms, the growth of decentralized storage, developments in Ethereum and the ZKVM and proof markets, the use of abstraction stacks, and the datafication of prediction markets.