a16z Crypto: The Next Phase of Crypto Industry Development Will Go Beyond the Scope of New Blockchains

PANews, January 9 – According to The Block, a new outlook report released by a16z Crypto on Thursday states that the next phase of industry development this year will no longer primarily depend on the emergence of new blockchains, but rather on how the technology reshapes markets, computing infrastructure, and the media sector. As prediction markets expand, cryptographic proofs are integrated into enterprise systems, and real financial investment becomes a new cornerstone of trust in the financial sector, the industry is set for transformation. Driven by advances in cryptography, artificial intelligence, and market design, crypto-native tools are increasingly permeating industries beyond decentralized finance, with blockchain serving as underlying infrastructure rather than as a standalone application scenario or end goal.

a16z Crypto states that as prediction markets converge with crypto technology and artificial intelligence, by 2026, prediction markets will be larger in scale, broader in scope, and more complex; the next stage of growth will not only involve more contracts but will also address the issue of truth determination in disputed outcomes in better ways. In addition, 2026 could be a turning point for cryptographic proofs to expand into non-blockchain industries, as advances in zero-knowledge virtual machine technology are significantly reducing the cost of generating proofs, making verifiable computation feasible for cloud CPU workloads and eventually for consumer-grade devices. The company's third focus is the rise of "staked media"; in this model, creators, analysts, and commentators use crypto tools to make publicly verifiable commitments, aligning their incentives with their claims; tokenized assets, programmable lock-ups, and on-chain historical records enable media participants to demonstrate their credibility by taking on capital or reputational risk, which audiences can audit.