Animoca co-founder Yat Siu: 2026 will be the year of utility tokens; the crypto industry must mature.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu stated that 2025 will be known as "Trump's Year," not because it benefits the crypto industry, but because the market over-bet on political expectations and misjudged tariffs, interest rates, and macroeconomic policy directions, leading to overall pressure on risk assets. He pointed out that the "crypto deal" surrounding Trump did not materialize as expected, and 2026 will force the industry to shift towards compliance and real-world applications. Siu believes that a key theme for 2026 is the institutionalization and functionalization of the crypto industry. On the one hand, as regulatory frameworks such as the Clarity Act and the GENIUS Act become clearer, traditional institutions and large enterprises will be more motivated to enter the crypto market; on the other hand, the market focus will shift from speculative tokens and Meme Coin to utility tokens with clear uses. He stated that the previous Meme Coin rally consumed a large amount of retail liquidity, prompting the industry to enter a period of reflection. At the capital market level, Siu revealed that Animoca plans to go public through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed fintech company Currenc Group, positioning itself as a public market vehicle for "altcoin exposure," providing investors with a broader range of Web3 and altcoin exposures than a single underlying public chain token. He emphasized that as token issuance and trading rules become clearer, the tokenization of real-world assets and security tokens will become an important bridge connecting traditional finance and the on-chain economy. Siu concluded that against the backdrop of increased regulatory certainty and changes in market structure, the crypto industry can no longer rely on narratives and speculation to drive growth, and 2026 will be a turning point centered on real-world use and user value. (Cointelegraph)