In September 2026, the total crypto market cap increased nearly 7%. Several major assets hit multi-month highs. So are we in a definitive bull market? And which assets will win big?
The current cycle is important because a lot has happened against the market’s favor. US Fed increased interest rates, and the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. And yet, Bitcoin price climbed to its highest level since January.
Analysts at BloFin Research argue the next bull market could look very different. In their view, a single category of tokens or applications won’t define the cycle.
Instead, it will be shaped by five distinct layers.
Next Bull Market Won’t Keep the Money Inside Crypto
Every crypto bull market so far has had a headline narrative. Those stories ranged from Bitcoin as digital money to smart-contract platforms, DeFi, and NFTs.
BloFin Research notes that most of the activity in those cycles stayed inside crypto. Fresh capital came in, moved from token to token, and created new ways to speculate. That held true even when the technology behind a trend aimed at something wider.
However, a different pattern could be taking shape now. Several of crypto’s quickest-growing sectors lean the same way. Together, they point toward crypto acting as a parallel market for the broader financial world.
- Stablecoins
- Tokenization
- RWA perps
- Prediction markets
- Token value accrual
These sectors are often discussed as separate narratives, but BloFin Research views them as layers of one stack.
1. Stablecoins
Stablecoins form the cash leg of the stack. BloFin Research says they are expanding from crypto trading into real-world payments.
This is visible in adoption. Visa’s stablecoin settlement volume passed a $20 billion annualized run rate. That is more than 15 times the level a year earlier.
The next step could likely be AI agents paying for data and computing power in stablecoins. BlackRock made a similar case in a recent paper, naming stablecoins a key candidate for “machine-native money.”
2. Tokenization
Tokenization supplies the asset leg by bringing real-world ownership on-chain. BloFin Research says commodities and stocks now rank among the quickest-growing tokenized assets.
Tokenized commodities reached $5.55 billion by the end of Q1, led mostly by gold. That marks a 289% rise since the start of 2025.
Tokenized equities grew even faster, up 390% this year to $4.43 billion by mid-September. Even so, only about 0.0029% of the $151.9 trillion global listed-equity market is tokenized. That leaves ample room for growth as access widens and on-chain use deepens.
3. RWA Perps
RWA perps make up the leverage leg. These contracts allow traders to take leveraged positions in stocks, commodities, or indices without owning the underlying assets.
An RWA perp mainly needs a reliable price feed, liquidity, collateral, and a liquidation system. Tokenizing an asset, by contrast, requires legal structuring, custody, and investor-eligibility rules.
Analysts at BloFin Research think the difference helps explain why synthetic exposure can scale faster than tokenized ownership.
DefiLlama data shows that RWA-perps volume rose from $122 billion in Q1 to $2.2 trillion in Q3. Open interest now tops $15.3 billion.
4. Prediction Markets
Prediction markets act as the information leg. They turn news and expectations into probabilities backed by traders’ money. That has made prediction markets one of crypto’s standout sectors this year.
On-chain prediction market volume reached about $5.24 billion so far in September, according to a Dune dashboard. That is more than triple the roughly $1.56 billion recorded in September 2025.
Ahead of the 2026 FOMC meetings, odds on Kalshi and Polymarket moved in response to incoming economic data. They then drifted toward CME FedWatch as each decision approached.
BloFin Research adds that these probability feeds are becoming machine-readable, so AI agents can use them as live signals.
5. Token Value Accrual
Value accrual is the final test of the bull market. In simple terms, value accrual means how a crypto protocol’s success translates into value for its token holders.
Analysts argue that usage requires a credible mechanism to convert it into value for token holders. That can take the form of buybacks, burns, distributions, or treasury growth.
For example, if a DEX does $10 billion in trading volume and earns $20 million in real fees, but none of that $20 million has any connection to its token, the token has weak value accrual.
The current token-emissions model has lost credibility. Traditional investors, focused on revenue and cash flow, also want a measurable link to token value, it adds.
BloFin Research points to three major DeFi protocols as examples, each using a different mechanism. Hyperliquid burns HYPE bought with trading fees, while Uniswap links protocol fees to UNI burns. Aave sends revenue to its DAO, which can fund AAVE buybacks.
Buyback spending has also hit a record this year. Crypto projects repurchased $638 million of their own tokens by late August, according to data from Allium Labs. Hyperliquid and Pump.fun accounted for nearly 90% of that total.
How the Layers Feed Each Other
These five layers reinforce each other. Stablecoins serve as collateral for perps and as the settlement asset for tokenized securities. Tokenized stocks and RWA perps both take their prices from traditional markets, but they serve different needs. Tokenization carries ownership, while perps carry leveraged price exposure.
Data from perps and prediction markets then becomes a signal for traders, models, and AI agents. Fees from all of this activity feed the value leg.
But there are two potential challenges. Infrastructure for AI agent payments is arriving before the volume does. The value of equity perps as a pricing signal also depends on liquidity, since thin markets can produce noisy or manipulated readings.