Ryne Saxe, CEO of Echo, a crypto funding platform, identifies three trends to watch in 2026 as the stablecoin market matures: value capture, interoperability and programmability. He notes that fragmentation across chains and assets is accelerating and argues that stablecoin abstraction and deeper technical investment will be required to address this fragmentation.
Value capture centers on who takes the profits among major stablecoin issuers, issuance platforms and blockchain networks. Saxe raised questions including: where will value accumulate among major assets and issuers, issuance platforms and networks? If both collateral yields and transaction fees are compressed into thin margins, how much distributable value will remain?
Now that Circle is listed, will sharing revenue with Coinbase be a pressure point? How much potential do Arc and Tempo have? Will Coinbase seek to use Base more actively in payments?
According to Saxe, the stablecoin ecosystem is currently fragmented. Chains and assets are increasing quickly, but the technology connecting them is still lagging. Using multiple apps leads to a build-up of stablecoins in a wallet that can be used in different places.
Saxe said, ‘To solve this, we need “stablecoin abstraction” technology that lets you use what you hold immediately wherever you want.’ The best stablecoin interoperability solution will effectively become a ‘stablecoin Visa’ and simplify transactions between assets and protocols.
On programmability, he made clear it is closely related to interoperability but is not the same thing. Saxe said, ‘For years we have called crypto programmable money, and stablecoins are the best implementation of that concept. But while there is programmable finance and markets through DeFi, true programmable money does not yet exist. This technology is either not possible yet or far from the level we will need.’
To handle AI agent-based trading, automatic execution that reacts to real-time market conditions, and user data protection, money itself must be able to judge and move on its own. It is highly likely that the most technical investment will flow in this direction in 2026.
Finally, he asserted that while market size or trading volumes may fluctuate, the growth trend for stablecoins is unlikely to reverse. Adoption remains in an early stage, and the infrastructure needed for agent-based trading, higher transaction speeds, and greater scale has yet to be built. The side that fills this gap first will become the main player in the next era of stablecoins.
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