2026 Cryptocurrency Narrative Predictions: Reputation-Driven, ICO Revival, and New Types of Banks, Stablecoins May Become the Ultimate Winners

Author: Wazz

Translation: Deep潮 TechFlow

Reputation

Whether it’s due to InfoFi, the desire for “ElonBucks,” or the lofty goal of becoming a Key Opinion Leader in the crypto space, one thing is undeniable: our crypto Twitter (CT) activity, your favorite token airdrops, and the testnets you’re “cultivating” have long been flooded by bots. As artificial intelligence technology continues to advance, this situation will only worsen.

In this crazy and AI-filled dystopian world, only one thing can distinguish real humans from robots. And no, this doesn’t require you to hand over biometric data to those “trusted” French developers.

That thing is “reputation.” It cannot be replicated by robots (no robot can), because it requires hundreds or even thousands of hours to build and can only be maintained through meaningful social relationships. It is called “reputation.” And no, you can’t let Grok dress it up in a bikini to decorate it.

Reputation is an unshakable filter. No matter how sycophantic your “binary friends” (referring to robots) are in the comment sections, they ultimately cannot pass through this threshold.

It can help you identify bad actors, scammers, and impersonators (e.g., @ethos_network); it can filter out speculators, witch attack (sybil) attackers, and investors with conflicting interests (e.g., @legiondotcc); it can also help you find trustworthy, genuine, and influential voices in the crypto space (e.g., @KaitoAI before the InfoFi boom).

In the AI era, the importance of reputation will become even more prominent. It is not only the key to distinguishing humans from machines but also the cornerstone for ensuring a healthy ecosystem. Therefore, by 2026, reputation will become a dominant topic in the crypto industry.

The Revival of ICOs

2017 was a frenzy year for the crypto industry. Driven by regulatory vacuum, Ethereum’s innovative ERC-20 standard, and massive speculative desire, thousands of projects successfully raised funds through what is now widely known as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

This fundraising method was extremely efficient but also quickly degenerated into chaos and a breeding ground for scams, ultimately being shut down by major regulatory agencies. However, in that era, major projects like BNB, TRX, and ADA were born and still rank among the top ten in crypto market cap today.

The ban on ICOs led the crypto industry into a “dark age,” while also forcing the entire sector into an experimental phase regarding token distribution and capital raising.

In terms of token distribution, we experimented with airdrops. This method initially achieved good distribution results, was low-cost, and successfully attracted a large number of users. But eventually, it was overused by speculators and industrial “farmers,” draining resources.

In terms of fundraising, we tried the venture capital model with low circulating supply and high FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation). While this approach benefited certain groups (mainly insiders), since most price discovery occurred before public markets, ordinary investors ended up holding the bag, suffering heavy losses.

If 2025 was a year of regulatory clarity (which is also the main reason ICOs faced obstacles), then 2026 is likely to be the “ICO revival year.” History may not simply repeat itself, but there will be similarities — in this new wave of ICOs, we might witness the emergence of some major crypto giants.

This field is becoming one of the most exciting sectors in the crypto industry. Many projects have already begun to stand out, such as the reputation-based ICO project @legiondotcc, @MetaDAOProject, and the recently acquired @echodotxyz by Coinbase.

New Crypto Banks

Neobanks have disrupted traditional banking. Revolut has become one of Europe’s most valuable fintech companies, while Nubank is one of Latin America’s most valuable fintech firms. As more digital-native investors emerge, the rise of Crypto Neobanking is a natural development, especially given its ability to leverage the same regulatory clarity advantages as ICOs.

Features like custodial accounts, yield accounts, and direct, instant cross-border stablecoin payments distinguish crypto neobanks from traditional banking systems.

With the proliferation of stablecoins and the provision of larger, more democratized earning opportunities for holders (no longer enduring savings accounts with only 0.2% annual interest), crypto neobanks will gradually eat into the market share of traditional finance (TradFi).

Although there are no clear winners at the moment, and I am unsure whether any tokens will benefit from this, stablecoins might ultimately be the winners. However, in my view, crypto neobanks will become one of the most important narratives in 2026.