Onchain Markets Set to Overtake Wall Street by 2026, Says Maple Finance CEO
According to Sid Powell, DeFi should no longer be viewed as a separate category from traditional finance (TradFi), as all capital markets activity is expected to be conducted onchain by 2026. Onchain markets are predicted to absorb Wall Street broadly, with institutional adoption of onchain capital markets accelerating.
The growth of onchain finance will be driven primarily by tokenized private credit rather than tokenized Treasuries. The DeFi market cap, currently approximately $69 billion, could reach $1 trillion as a result, serving as a key growth engine. Anticipated onchain debt products include BTC-backed mortgages, crypto asset-backed securities, and securitized crypto receivables, though a proper regulatory framework will be necessary.
Primary holders of onchain debt instruments are expected to include sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers, and large asset managers. Central to this transition will be stablecoins, bolstered by the GENIUS Act adoption and stablecoin issuances and rails from companies like PayPal (PYUSD), Societe Generale, and Fiserv (FIUSD). Additionally, payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard are developing stablecoin settlement rails.
Stablecoins have the potential to process about $50 trillion in payments by 2026, potentially surpassing major card networks and significantly lowering merchant settlement costs. As onchain finance scales, the total value locked in DeFi is likely to rise, closely tied to stablecoin expansion and tokenized assets.
