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Asia Morning Briefing: Crypto’s Next Breakout Will Come From Infrastructure, Not Narratives, Hashed Says
The Korean venture firm’s 2026 thesis argues that stablecoins, AI agents, and on-chain credit markets are becoming the foundation of a real digital economy, with Asia emerging as the first region where enterprise adoption is taking shape.
By Sam Reynolds, AI Boost
Updated Dec 5, 2025, 2:33 a.m. Published Dec 5, 2025, 2:29 a.m.
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What to know:
- Hashed predicts that by 2026, digital assets will function as an economy rather than speculative instruments, with stablecoins and AI agents playing key roles.
- Hashed says AI agents will accelerate the shift by routing payments, managing liquidity, and executing transactions programmatically, which increases demand for transparent settlement rails.
- The firm argues that growth will favor builders operating where real liquidity meets automation and where digital assets function as economic systems rather than speculation, and that is where it will be investing.
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Hashed says the crypto market is finally shifting from storytelling to structure and that 2026 will be the year digital assets start behaving like an economy rather than a speculative category as stablecoins become global settlement rails and AI agents emerge as autonomous economic participants, reshaping where real investable value lies.
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In its Protocol Economy 2026 report, which acts as its investment thesis for the year, the Korea-based VC firm argues that Asia is where this transition is becoming visible, with regulated stablecoin pilots, early AI agent deployments, and expanding RWA and treasury workflows forming the first on-chain enterprise systems.
Hashed says the investable frontier is now anchored in these structural layers, where payments, credit, and settlement move onto programmable rails, and applications evolve into adaptive economic systems driven by stable liquidity and verifiable demand. The firm is concentrating capital on teams with real users and compounding on-chain activity rather than projects tied to momentum narratives.
Hashed frames this shift as a correction from the past two years, when excess liquidity and speculative flows obscured which parts of the stack were generating real usage.
The firm says the data now points clearly to stablecoins, on-chain credit, and automation infrastructure as the categories where activity compounds rather than spikes. That trend is especially evident in Asia, where regulators in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore are building frameworks that allow stablecoin settlement, tokenized deposits, and RWA issuance to plug into existing financial systems.
Hashed argues that AI will accelerate this transition because agents can route payments, manage liquidity, and execute transactions programmatically, thereby creating demand for transparent rails.
This next phase of growth will favor builders working at the intersection of real liquidity and automation, where digital assets operate as economic systems rather than speculative instruments – and that is where Hashed will be investing.
Market Movement
BTC: Bitcoin is drifting around $92,000 after failing to hold an overnight move toward $94,000, reinforcing the view from some analysts that it is settling into a low-liquidity range between $85,000 and $95,000.
ETH: Ether is holding above $3,100 and outperforming bitcoin on the day, slipping less than 1% as the broader market trades sideways.
Gold: Gold is oscillating around $4,200 in a tight consolidation as a weaker US dollar offers support while higher Treasury yields and firm risk appetite limit follow-through, leaving the metal biased higher but still trapped in a range ahead of key U.S. data.
Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.36% and the Topix off 1.12% after a muted Wall Street session.
Elsewhere in Crypto
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Higit pang Para sa Iyo
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
Ano ang dapat malaman:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Here’s why bitcoin’s is failing its role as a 'safe haven' versus gold
Bitcoin behaves more like an "ATM" during uncertain times, with investors quickly selling it to raise cash.
What to know:
- During recent geopolitical tensions, Bitcoin lost 6.6% of its value, while gold rose 8.6%, demonstrating bitcoin's vulnerability in times of market stress.
- Bitcoin behaves more like an "ATM" during uncertain times, with investors quickly selling it to raise cash, contrary to its reputation as a stable digital asset.
- Gold remains the preferred hedge for short-term risks, while bitcoin is better suited for long-term monetary and geopolitical uncertainties that unfold over years.
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