Keyrock Flags 12 Crypto Charts You Need To Watch This Year

Overview

Keyrock, in collaboration with Dune, has released a comprehensive dashboard titled “12 Charts to Watch in 2026.” This report aims to highlight measurable market structures within the cryptocurrency landscape, focusing on liquidity formation, value return, and the emergence of systemically important rails. By pairing live datasets with explicit predictions for 2026, the report serves as a checklist to evaluate the evolution of core crypto primitives, including trading, issuance, payments, and funding.

Key Findings

The report identifies several critical areas of focus for the upcoming year:

Prediction Markets

Keyrock emphasizes the growth of prediction markets, noting a significant increase in weekly volume in 2025. The report predicts that weekly volume in this sector will increase substantially in 2026, indicating a deepening and more institutional approach to trading.

Tokenization and Onchain Growth

A key metric tracked is the non-stablecoin onchain Real World Asset (RWA) Asset Under Management (AUM). This metric excludes stablecoins to assess the movement of capital market assets onchain. The report notes substantial growth in 2025 and forecasts even more significant growth in 2026, primarily driven by tokenized cash-like products and private credit.

Open Payments Protocol

Keyrock introduces an innovative open payments protocol, which allows software, including AI agents, to facilitate payments for digital services using stablecoins. This protocol is positioned as a proxy for the rise of machine-native commerce in 2026.

Onchain Asset Management

The report highlights the importance of asset management onchain, with a focus on vault AUM across major providers. Keyrock believes that the maturation of products in 2025 will pave the way for more extensive distribution in 2026.

Derivatives and Market Depth

Keyrock discusses the growth of derivatives trading, particularly the shift from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to centralized exchanges (CEXs). This shift is viewed as a stress test for market depth and the report sets ambitious targets for open interest in onchain perpetual contracts for 2026.

Value Return Mechanisms

The report also examines buyback programs, noting significant spending in 2025 and predicting a continued increase in weekly buyback expenditures in 2026. This shift towards more strategic execution models is seen as an important development in value return.

Solana MEV and Ethereum Blobs

Keyrock addresses the evolving landscape of miner extractable value (MEV) on Solana, identifying potential distribution issues. Additionally, the report tracks developments on Ethereum, specifically the fee structure associated with blobs.

Consumer Payments and TradFi Integration

The report forecasts a notable monthly spend in consumer crypto card usage in 2026. It also discusses the integration of traditional finance (TradFi) into the crypto space, particularly regarding Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Stablecoin Funding

Finally, the report highlights the variable borrow annual percentage yield (APY) for USDC on Aave, emphasizing the importance of rate stability for longer-term, institutional strategies.

From author

The insights provided by Keyrock and Dune offer a detailed roadmap for the cryptocurrency market in 2026. By focusing on measurable metrics and emerging trends, the report highlights key areas for potential growth and institutional adoption. The emphasis on prediction markets, tokenization, and asset management suggests that the crypto landscape is poised for significant evolution as it matures.

Impact on the crypto market

• The focus on prediction markets may lead to increased trading activity and institutional participation.
• Growth in non-stablecoin RWA AUM could signal a shift towards more traditional asset classes being tokenized.
• The introduction of open payments protocols may facilitate new forms of commerce and payment methods within the crypto ecosystem.
• The anticipated increase in vault AUM highlights the growing importance of onchain asset management solutions.
• Expanding derivatives markets could enhance market depth and liquidity, attracting more sophisticated investors.
• The integration of TradFi elements into the crypto space may bolster mainstream acceptance and adoption of digital assets.