As crypto markets entered 2026, one theme grew to change into increasingly particular: Final year used to be less about hypothesis and more about infrastructure, law and proper-world employ. At some stage in jurisdictions, regulators and establishments moved from opinion to implementation, reshaping how digital sources are supervised and old sort.
A defining characteristic of this shift used to be the upward push of stablecoins. While Bitcoin (BTC) continues to dominate crypto market capitalization, stablecoins now account for more than half of all onchain transaction volumes globally. Their increasing position in funds, remittances, and procuring and selling has placed them firmly within the center of regulatory consideration, particularly as governments grapple with monetary balance and compliance risks.
In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, Cointelegraph explores how these changes played out in prepare, drawing on insights from Matthias Bauer-Langgartner, head of protection for Europe at Chainalysis.
Stablecoins aren’t on the sidelines
Bauer-Langgartner acknowledged, “2025 has been a year of stablecoins.”
He began by highlighting that this isn’t particularly fresh, as their dominance has been building for years. Primarily based on Chainalysis files, stablecoins now “clearly dominate the crypto sources panorama with more than 50% of transactional volumes,” even as Bitcoin retains roughly half of complete market capitalization.
That development has made stablecoins graceful for legitimate employ cases and for illicit ones.
“Stablecoins have [also] been dominating the crypto sources transactional volumes already for pretty a whereas now, both in illicit usage and likewise in legitimate usage.”
He added that criminals need stablecoins because they’re liquid, globally accessible, and retain faraway from volatility. Gentle, that same development creates enforcement leverage.
“Centralized stablecoin issuers on the complete have the choice to freeze or even burn stablecoins,” he acknowledged, calling it “an awfully highly effective tool to strive in opposition to monetary crime.”
Crypto crime turns geopolitical
Beyond individual scams and hacks, 2025 also marked a shift toward dispute-linked crypto activity.
Bauer-Langgartner acknowledged, “2025 has in actuality been, in just a few, many cases, a story year also for crypto crime.” Chainalysis recorded $154 billion in illicit crypto flows, a 162% lengthen year-over-year.
Connected: Tether’s position in Venezuela, Iran highlights the duality of stablecoins
Noteworthy of that development used to be pushed by nation-dispute actors, he acknowledged.
“Nation-dispute actors are facilitating crypto usage for illicit activity on a extraordinarily skilled level.”
Within the episode, he also broke down convey sanctioned stablecoins and dispute-backed networks old sort for sanctions evasion.
Despite the surge, Bauer-Langgartner acknowledged illicit activity gentle represents a minute half of overall usage. “Even with the lengthen we’ve viewed, it’s gentle beneath 1% of overall activity,” he acknowledged, underscoring the topic regulators face as adoption accelerates.
He also highlighted Europe’s ongoing implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Resources Regulation and the intention it, along with other world frameworks, is taking shape and rising a more structured enterprise.
Hear to the plump episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And undergo in mind to investigate cross-check Cointelegraph’s plump lineup of alternative presentations!
Magazine: How crypto guidelines changed in 2025 — and how they’ll swap in 2026
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