2026 Crypto Entrepreneurship: Moving Away from Speculation, Deep Diving into 5 Value Tracks

Original Article Title: Crypto Startup Ideas for 2026 That Actually Matter

Original Article Author: Patrick Scott, Dynamo DeFi

Original Article Translation: Luffy, Foresight News

Within the cryptocurrency cycle, there always comes a time when some people start to exit, some falter, and the voices of negativity grow loud. They claim that cryptocurrency has reached a dead-end, lament the time they have spent in this industry, and assert that this technology has no value beyond being used for crime and speculation.

This kind of scenario plays out every few years.

I am writing this article not just to chant the slogan "the altcoin bull market is coming," but to urge everyone to stay optimistic: now is the perfect time to build real business value in the cryptocurrency space. This article will share a series of entrepreneurial ideas that are urgently needed to be implemented. The potential of these ideas far exceeds the small circle of the cryptocurrency community. They are practical, have a solid foundation, and can immediately create real-world impact.

First and foremost, it needs to be clear that articles like this are usually written by venture capitalists, but I am not part of that group. I am neither a venture capital professional, nor do I operate any investment funds, nor can I be considered an angel investor. Put more bluntly: I cannot provide financial support for these startup ideas. If you contact me saying you want to put them into practice, I would be genuinely happy to inspire you, but I really can't invest in them. At most, if I happen to know people in the relevant field, I can help you retweet a tweet or facilitate a business introduction.

My true identity is the founder of a successful decentralized finance media outlet, operating a large-scale decentralized finance-themed YouTube channel; at the same time, I have worked at a top decentralized finance data company, responsible for building a recurring revenue business system. This background is crucial because many of the startup directions mentioned in this article come from my first-hand insights in the industry.

For the past five years, I have been a deep user of decentralized finance products. Based on practical experience and industry work experience, I have a profound and firm judgment on the key factors and potential opportunities in the crypto field.

Some may wonder, if these ideas are of such high quality, why don't I implement them myself? On the one hand, I am currently responsible for revenue and growth operations at DeFiLlama, a decentralized finance data analytics platform, and have already created significant value for the industry; on the other hand, I do intend to implement some of these ideas myself, even hope that those who read this article do not preempt these tracks. But after much thought, these ideas are just too good to keep to myself. In the end, I decided to share them and sincerely hope that someone will turn them into reality.

Starting from First Principles to Find the Right Entrepreneurial Direction

In order to filter out entrepreneurial projects that truly have practical value rather than just catering to crypto speculators, we need to deduce from first principles.

The first principles here are actually quite simple: What is the true value of cryptocurrency? Where does its inherent advantage lie compared to the traditional financial system?

By answering these two questions, we can move away from the gimmick of "crypto for the sake of crypto," break free from the misconception of "attracting users to use non-essential applications through token incentives," and truly unearth the core value of cryptographic technology.

What we need to do is to stop forcibly applying cryptocurrency to mismatched scenarios and instead explore business opportunities that naturally align with cryptographic technology.

First, I have summarized the core advantages of cryptographic technology compared to the traditional financial system, and these advantages are the starting point for us to explore entrepreneurial directions:

· Global Capital Freedom: With cryptocurrency, cross-border transfers do not require foreign exchange fees and are not subject to any capital control restrictions

· 24/7 Instant Settlement: Transfers can be settled instantly without waiting for several business days

· Privacy Protection Features: Not all cryptocurrencies have this attribute, but currencies that support privacy features can build truly untraceable applications

· Extremely Low Transaction Costs: In addition to the intuitive advantage of "no credit card fees," low fees have also given rise to innovative applications such as "streaming payments" that are impossible under traditional high fixed-rate models

· Programmability and Composability: Digital assets are controlled by code rather than intermediaries, making them "possession is ownership" assets that can freely flow through decentralized applications, and can derive more functions after being deposited into smart contracts

· Permissionless Openness: Anyone, anywhere, at any time can access the cryptocurrency network. This feature makes cryptographic technology an ideal choice for fundraising for groups at risk of "debanking" and provides a testing ground for financial products that need to overcome layers of regulatory barriers to land

· Transparent Traceability: The ownership of cryptocurrency assets and on-chain financial data can be traced in real time, allowing originally cumbersome corporate processes to be automated

Based on these core advantages, I have divided the entrepreneurial ideas in this article into five major directions, each of which relies on the core value of multiple cryptographic technologies:

· Internet Capital Markets: Leveraging the three major advantages of global capital flow, programmability and composability, and permissionless openness

· Anti-censorship Application: Leveraging three main advantages of privacy protection, permissionless openness, and global capital flow

· Decentralized Science (DeSci): Leveraging two main advantages of global capital flow and programmability with composability

· Stablecoin: Encompassing all the core advantages mentioned above

· On-chain Corporate Governance: Leveraging the core advantage of transparency and traceability

Internet Capital Market

The future of cryptocurrency, and indeed the future of the entire financial and internet industry, is largely embedded in the Internet Capital Market.

Recently, this concept has received some negative publicity. The reason behind this is that many people have applied the meme coin play to various assets, introducing products that are fundamentally no different from meme coins, rife with poorly designed tokenomics, and have packaged speculation as ownership investment.

To be honest, perhaps we need a new set of terms to define this space, but its underlying framework itself holds tremendous value.

In my view, a true Internet Capital Market is not a game centered around speculative tokens but rather about enabling cash flows to be natively investable on the internet.

Imagine a future where not only are on-chain decentralized financial applications present, but where all real-world cash flows can be tokenized—including enterprises generating stable cash flows in the real economy, dividend-paying stocks, royalty streams, real estate projects, various applications, micro-subscription software bundles, and all on-chain and off-chain products.

These assets would become investable, tradable, and could be recombined to form entirely new financial products. The entire process would be globally open, permissionless, and with extremely low transaction costs.

This is the true form of the Internet Capital Market.

I believe that the following specific areas are urgently in need of someone building on-chain fundraising tools and investor cash flow distribution applications:

· Small and Medium Enterprise Financing

· Micro-subscription Software and Information Product Financing

· Royalty Stream Securitization

· Creator Revenue Rights Financing

When the "Friends and Family Funding" Model Becomes Unsustainable, Where Does Capital Forge a New Path?

In traditional entrepreneurship models, founders usually rely on friends and family to raise seed capital. Today, this remains a primary mode of financing for small and medium enterprises.

However, the transformation of social structures has caused this model to gradually malfunction: family sizes have reduced, friends are spread worldwide, and relatives are scattered across different countries.

Today, fundraising from relatives and friends is not only cumbersome and questionable in terms of compliance, but even the fund collection process itself is full of challenges.

On the other hand, the Internet capital market has made global fundraising possible again, and this model is applicable to various asset classes.

More notably, the cash flow generated by these investments can be repackaged, combined, and embedded into new financial products. When millions of businesses and products achieve cash flow tokenization, we can leverage the financial primitives that have been tested in the native decentralized finance space to build a completely new financial ecosystem on these assets.

Uncensorability: An Essential Core Capability

Another core attribute of crypto assets is uncensorability.

This attribute is rooted in the permissionless and privacy-preserving nature of cryptographic technology.

While public blockchains have achieved permissionlessness, the privacy feature has long been overlooked.

It must be noted that my current work heavily relies on the transparency of on-chain data. However, it must be acknowledged that in many use cases, privacy protection is not only a better solution but a necessity.

The Line Between Compliance and Violation is Quietly Shifting

You may think you don't need uncensorability at all. But can you be sure that one day in the future you won't have such a need? In some parts of Europe, the trend is already emerging: dissidents are suppressed, bank accounts are closed, and people are arrested for social media posts.

The next step is clear: political groups will be deprived of fundraising channels, bank accounts will be frozen, and payment channels will be completely cut off. When that day comes, how will these groups operate? The answer is self-evident: on cryptocurrency-based networks.

Several niche areas naturally fit with cryptographic technology and are eagerly awaiting entrepreneurs' strategies:

· Uncensorable fundraising tools for political groups: European governments are increasingly cracking down on populist political parties, depriving these parties of banking services is only a matter of time. Cryptocurrency solutions can enable them to securely raise and store funds without worrying about being deplatformed. To prevent retaliation against members, the privacy feature of such tools is crucial

· Uncensorable crowdfunding platforms: Some crowdfunding platforms claim to be uncensorable but ultimately are still subject to payment service providers. In the past, activists and governments often pressured payment providers to force crowdfunding platforms to take down specific fundraising projects. However, crowdfunding platforms built on cryptographic technology can fundamentally solve this issue; the payment process operates on a decentralized network with no central node that can be pressured. Even if opponents of free speech rant, their efforts will be in vain.

Decentralized Science (DeSci): The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Capital Market

The development of artificial intelligence is significantly lowering the barrier for individuals and small teams to conduct original scientific research.

This has been demonstrated in cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs such as protein folding. Artificial intelligence is able to digest vast amounts of literature and data, uncovering potential correlations that may take human researchers decades to find.

However, scientific discoveries alone are not enough. Bringing research results to the market relies on capital support.

And this is precisely the gap that Decentralized Science (DeSci) is filling.

The Core Pain Points Addressed by DeSci

I once worked at a childhood cancer research non-profit organization. That experience made me realize profoundly that DeSci can create immense value in medical funding and research.

Many rare or niche diseases, due to small patient populations and limited short-term commercial value, are often overlooked by pharmaceutical giants. Research in these areas either relies on the secondary development of existing drugs or suffers from a lack of funding and slow progress.

Through permissionless globalized capital markets, we can find individuals truly passionate about these diseases to fund research projects.

When artificial intelligence is combined with DeSci, individuals and small teams can effectively conduct cutting-edge research.

One of the most heartbreaking scenarios is the plight of rare disease patients. Globally, there may be only 20 people with the same disease, with almost zero research on this disease and an extremely slim chance of research proposals being accepted.

The emergence of DeSci makes research on these types of diseases possible and may even lead to breakthrough treatment solutions.

This model also applies to disease areas with large patient populations that have been neglected by pharmaceutical giants.

DeSci's Path to Capital Returns

Fundraising is just one part of the DeSci ecosystem. We also need to establish a mechanism for validating research results, distributing returns to investors, packaging intellectual property and royalty benefits, and efficiently distributing returns.

A funding unlocking mechanism based on on-chain milestones can significantly reduce administrative costs, allowing more funds to be truly invested in research. At the same time, higher transparency can help donors clearly understand the flow of funds, encouraging them to invest more capital.

To enhance the investment attractiveness of the DeSci project, we can draw inspiration from the investment portfolio model in venture capital and media financing fields—an individual project's success can cover the cost of the entire portfolio.

Specifically, we can construct an investment portfolio consisting of 10 high-risk, high-reward research projects. By investing in this project basket, investors increase the probability of breakthrough research outcomes. Once a project develops a treatment solution, artificial intelligence tools can also help identify other commercialization applications of that solution.

Stablecoins: The Least Controversial Gold Track

Currently, the global stablecoin total supply has surpassed $300 billion, growing by hundreds of billions in the past two years.

Treasury Department forecasts indicate that by 2030, the total stablecoin supply will approach $30 trillion.

Conservatively estimated, there will be hundreds of billions flowing onto the chain in the coming years; optimistically, this number may reach the trillion-dollar level. This does not include funds already on the chain but underutilized.

The entrepreneurial opportunities for stablecoins can mainly be divided into two categories: "Savings" and "Payments":

Savings Applications

On a global scale, a significant population wishes to hold USD-denominated assets, especially evident in developing countries.

Despite various flaws, the USD remains the most stable and liquid trade settlement currency globally.

Building on stablecoins, we can develop savings products far beyond the traditional financial system. For example, savers can allocate customized currency and bulk commodity asset portfolios and earn from liquidity provider forex trading.

Payments and Utility Applications

The payment advantages of stablecoins are significant: instant settlement, no cross-border fees, very low transaction costs, and 24/7 availability.

Practical experiences from several enterprises have proven the feasibility of stablecoin payments.

The following areas are excellent real-world scenarios for stablecoin payment solutions:

· Gig Economy Platforms: Labor arbitrage models often involve cross-border payments, where traditional transfer processes are cumbersome and costly; stablecoins can perfectly address this pain point

· Cross-Border Remittances: The remittance business may have been among the earliest to be disrupted by cryptocurrencies, but there are still gaps in the market, requiring higher-quality services to bridge the last mile between cash and cryptocurrency payments

· Disaster Relief Aid: In disaster and conflict areas, distributing stablecoins to the wallets of affected populations can bypass bureaucratic obstacles, corruption vulnerabilities, and banking system failures, enabling precise delivery of aid funds

Programmable Currency and Streamable Payments

Another key advantage of stablecoins is programmability.

This feature has led to the emergence of a continuous stream payment model rather than the discrete paycheck cycle model in the traditional financial system. The decentralized payment protocol LlamaPay is an excellent example of this model.

Based on this concept, we can also develop more innovative products:

· Streamable Wage System: Linking streamable payments with attendance software—employees clock in, and the payment stream automatically starts; clock out, and the payment stream stops. Wages are settled by the second, received in real-time, without waiting for a two-week pay cycle or worrying about wage delays

· On-Demand Pay-As-You-Go Subscription Software: Currently, user subscription fatigue for subscription services is increasing. The subscription model of software and API services can be combined with streamable payments, allowing users to pay only for the actual duration of use. This model can establish a clearer connection between usage and income, avoiding cumbersome processes like invoicing and billing.

On-Chain Corporate Governance: New Possibilities Beyond Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

The governance model of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) has become a joke within the industry. This assessment is not without reason.

However, on-chain corporate governance may be one of the most revolutionary applications of encryption technology.

Even leaders in the traditional financial sector recognize the value of on-chain voting: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote, "Tokenization technology digitizes asset ownership and voting rights, allowing shareholders to conveniently and securely exercise their voting rights from anywhere in the world, significantly reducing governance costs."

The failure of the DAO governance model lies in its attempt to implement direct democracy; a model that is completely unsuitable for corporate operations.

What Should an Ideal On-Chain Governance Model Look Like?

Token holders often worry that their tokens have no value, and this concern is often not unfounded.

But the solution to the problem is definitely not to have token holders vote on all transactions.

An ideal on-chain governance model should mimic the governance structure of traditional companies: clearly define the rights of all parties, protect the interests of minority shareholders, have the board of directors elected by shareholders, and have the board appoint management responsible for day-to-day operations.

Day-to-day operational decisions of a company should never be determined by direct shareholder or token holder voting. Instead, a core right of token holders is to elect the board of directors, with management being fully responsible for company operations. Through on-chain code, we can codify these rules, for example, granting the group holding the majority of tokens the right to take over the treasury.

Currently, the market is eagerly awaiting a product that can replicate this traditional corporate governance structure on-chain.

From Crypto Governance Tools to Public Company Infrastructure

Currently, thousands of crypto protocols are acting as a testing ground, experimenting with various on-chain governance models. Once this governance structure is proven viable, it can be continuously optimized and eventually extended to traditional publicly listed companies.

In the future, we could establish on-chain equity and on-chain shareholder voting systems for traditional publicly listed companies.

Thus, a clear path from niche DAO tools to public company capital market infrastructure is unfolding.

Other On-Chain Corporate Governance Derivative Products

As more and more enterprises adopt on-chain governance models, a range of related ancillary products will also emerge in response to market demand:

· Standardized Financial Disclosure Tools: In recent years, many risks in the crypto market could have been avoided if there were standardized financial disclosures, treasury fund flow transparency, token unlocking and buyback disclosure, and major event announcements. These tools will also be applicable to other on-chain enterprises in the future

· M&A Tools: With some crypto teams experiencing a funding chain breakdown, an industry consolidation and M&A wave is on the horizon. The market needs a professional platform to facilitate token swaps, M&A consideration payments, treasury mergers, and ensure full process transparency

· Public Company On-Chain Governance Access Tools: Providing tools for traditional publicly listed companies to gradually explore on-chain voting mechanisms without breaking their existing governance structure

· Compensation Management Tools: Managing performance bonuses, token option unlocks, and other compensation-related transactions based on on-chain milestone verification

Compound Effect: Positive Feedback Loop of the On-Chain Ecosystem

In the coming years, a major attraction of the crypto industry is that every entity's real-world cash flow being put on-chain will make the technical architecture of decentralized finance more valuable, while enhancing the utility of other financial primitives.

All entrepreneurial ideas mentioned in this article can now create tangible value. However, the real magic will emerge once tens of millions of real-world businesses undergo on-chain transformation; at that time, various financial primitives that have been tested in the decentralized finance field over the past five years will be re-empowered to serve these external cash flows, giving rise to a brand-new financial ecosystem.

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