Scan the new financial ecosystem map: Nine major tracks showcase a "hundred-team battle," with tokenization, stablecoins, and new banking becoming the main battlegrounds

Author: Andy, Founder of The Rollup

Translation: Felix, PANews

The founder of The Rollup, Andy, recently published an article discussing the 2026 Neo Finance market map, pointing out that Neo Finance will become the fastest-growing sector in the global financial system. Below are the details.

The new financial sector will nurture more truly “billion-dollar unicorn” companies than ever before. It is ready to become the fastest-growing area in the global financial system over the next few years and even decades.

Below is the 2026 Neo Finance market map, covering nine major sub-sectors and over 100 ecosystem projects:

The combination of consumer-grade front-end user experience and efficient DeFi infrastructure behind the scenes will provide users with a “bank-like experience” that is both familiar and far superior to traditional banking.

Users’ savings can be traded, transferred, and accessed 24/7 worldwide. For example, a user’s “checking account” can earn 5% annual interest, compared to 0.25% in traditional banks.

The new financial market driven by teams focusing on different parts of the tech stack is expected to fundamentally change the way the world interacts with money.

Next, let’s explore some key areas within the market map.

Tokenization

Tokenization is the process of bringing real-world assets (such as government bonds, stocks, commodities, credit, money markets, etc.) onto the blockchain.

Infrastructure and tokenization proxy layers include: Figure, Ondo Finance, Paxos, Ccentrifuge, SuperstateInc, Midas, Grove Finance, Nest, Dinari, Securitize, and other companies.

Tokenization has been discussed for many years, but 2025 is truly the year it begins large-scale adoption.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are the most successful crypto products to date, with 90% of emerging financial clients choosing stablecoins to access cryptocurrencies.

The stablecoin issuance sector is booming, with many companies emerging, such as Circle, Paxos, Tether, and Sky.

Yield-bearing stablecoins (or “yield coins”) like $sUSDS, $sUSDe, $BUIDL, $USYC , and $syrupUSDC have seen exponential growth over the past 18 months, with supply exceeding $13 billion.

Users no longer need to choose between stability and yield as they did in the CeDeFi space from 2020-2022; now both can be achieved simultaneously.

Emerging Banks

In the emerging banking sector, many teams like ether.fi, KAST, Tuyo, Galaxy, and others are leveraging DeFi backend technology to build consumer-facing “bank-like” experiences from scratch.

Remember the “DeFi Mullet”? *(PANews Note: Frontend uses TradFi-friendly interfaces, while backend leverages DeFi underlying technology) It still exists, and data can confirm this.

Tokenization, stablecoins, and emerging banks are currently the three key areas of focus, expected to see the largest growth in 2026 and beyond.

In addition, the crypto market is facing a harsh reality: old strategies are failing.

High FDV, issuing low-circulation tokens to retail investors; protocols lacking value growth pathways; “ghost” chains with clone DEXs; projects with no PMF (product-market fit) that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and then exited early.

All these approaches are outdated, and this trend will continue.

In fact, after reading The Truth Machine in 2017, I started exploring cryptocurrencies. At that time, I was almost certain this technology would reshape finance. For some reason, I feel we have strayed from our original mission. Nine years later, we are closer than ever to making that dream a reality.

Everything is ready, and opportunity is right in front of us. Welcome to the era of Neo Finance.

Related reading: Nihilism and the vicious cycle — why should we oppose over-financialization?