#Gate广场创作者新春激励 The crypto market in 2026 is shifting from a "speculative narrative" to a "value re-evaluation." How to identify future valuable projects?

Finding potential crypto projects in 2026 hinges on recognizing teams that are building significant solutions and can gain momentum in the next market cycle. Below, I will provide a reference guide from systematic evaluation methods, core sectors, and specific observation perspectives.

1. How to systematically evaluate a crypto project?

These five core elements form the foundation for assessing a project's fundamentals:

1. Core logic and application scenarios: Is the project's white paper or vision document clear? What problem does it solve? For example, enabling AI agents to make autonomous payments, or tokenizing traditional assets?
2. Technological innovation and moat: What unique technological features does the project have? Does it have a modular AI agent architecture like ElizaOS, or has it built a large-scale tokenized collaboration network like Common Protocol?
3. Team background and execution capability: The team's past experience, technical skills, and transparency are crucial. A team with strong technical background and good roadmap execution is more trustworthy.
4. Development roadmap and progress: Check whether the project has achieved milestones as planned. A team that continuously delivers products is more convincing than one that only promotes.
5. Community ecosystem and market data: An active developer community and user base reflect the project's vitality. At the same time, rationally view metrics like market cap and trading volume to avoid falling into hype.

2. What key trends do institutions see in 2026?

Top institutions agree that the crypto industry in 2026 will accelerate from "concept validation" to "large-scale integration and application." Several directions are repeatedly mentioned:

1. Deep integration of AI and crypto
This is considered a fundamental shift, not just a short-term trend. Core applications include:

· AI agent economy: AI Agents will autonomously trade, purchase data or computing power, creating new, real-time settlement business models.
· Decentralized AI infrastructure: Providing decentralized computing, data, and storage resources for AI models.

2. "Real-world assets" and on-chain asset tokenization
Mapping traditional assets (stocks, bonds, gold, even intellectual property) onto blockchain is seen as a key growth narrative. By 2026, mainstream exchanges may begin trading on-chain assets.

3. Privacy becoming a critical demand
With the proliferation of digital surveillance, demand for financial privacy surges. Institutions like Coinbase believe privacy tokens and Ethereum's privacy solutions will garner more attention.

4. A new chapter for Bitcoin narrative

· National and corporate reserves: More countries and listed companies may include Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their balance sheets, creating structural new demand.
· Cycle debate: The market debates whether Bitcoin's "four-year cycle" will change due to institutionalization or enter a longer "super cycle."

5. Stablecoins as mainstream bridges
Stablecoins will become key payment and liquidity tools connecting traditional finance and the crypto world, potentially surpassing traditional banking transaction volumes.

3. Sectors and project cases worth关注

Based on the above trends, let's look at some specific project cases. Please note, the following analysis is based solely on publicly available information and does not constitute investment advice.

Sector 1: AI-driven decentralized infrastructure

· Project case: Common Protocol
· Core logic: Aims to build an AI-native tokenized collaboration network, transforming community, projects, and discussions into tradable assets to incentivize large-scale collaboration.
· Key data: As of November 2025, claims to have about 3.8 million users and over 50,000 communities.
· 2026 outlook: Whether its model can continue attracting developers and users, establishing an effective token economy cycle.
· Project case: ElizaOS
· Core logic: A modular AI agent framework allowing developers to easily build and deploy autonomous AI agents that interact with blockchain and traditional applications.
· Key data: Claims to support over 200 crypto-native plugins and plans to launch simplified deployment cloud services.
· 2026 outlook: As demand for AI agents grows, ElizaOS's adoption rate and developer ecosystem expansion will be key indicators.

Sector 2: Multi-chain trading and liquidity

· Project case: LAB (Lab)
· Core logic: A multi-chain trading platform token aimed at facilitating decentralized trading across multiple blockchains.
· Key data: Total supply of 1 billion tokens; reached a high of about $0.46 in October 2025.
· 2026 outlook: In the context of increasing multi-chain connectivity, whether the platform can attract sufficient liquidity and trading volume to support the token's practical value.

4. Your action strategies and risk warnings

1. Deep research beyond price charts: Don’t just look at price graphs. Spend time reading original project documents (white papers, technical docs), GitHub code updates, and team communications.
2. Monitor on-chain activity: Use on-chain analysis tools to observe wallet address growth, large transactions, and token lock-up in smart contracts. These data are more reliable than social media sentiment.
3. Manage risks and diversify: Crypto markets are highly volatile. Clearly understand your risk tolerance, avoid all-in positions, and consider dollar-cost averaging or phased investments to mitigate timing risks.
4. Stay rational and beware hype: Be cautious of any "guaranteed returns" or overly sensationalized wealth claims. True value creation takes time.

In summary, the opportunities in 2026 may belong to projects that effectively address core issues like AI and Web3 integration, on-chain assets, and privacy protection, and have strong execution teams and active ecosystems. The market is maturing, and patient fundamental researchers may reap better rewards.