As the stablecoin market evolves with companies from a range of sectors entering the space, Ryne Saxe (라인 색스), CEO of crypto funding platform Echo, has set out 3 trends to watch this year.

In a recent post shared on social media platform X, he pointed to value capture, interoperability and programmability as stablecoin trends to watch in 2026.

Value capture centres 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. It is similar to carrying many different gift certificates.

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."

He also stressed that while the market size or trading volume for stablecoins may rise and fall temporarily, it is unlikely that the growth trend will be broken.

He said, "The statistics are impressive right now, but it is also clear that we are in an early stage of adoption. The infrastructure is not yet sufficient to handle agent-based trading, institutional fund movement, and much higher transaction speeds and scale. The side that fills this gap first will become the main player in the next era of stablecoins."