Eight crypto projects stand out in 2026 for their working products, measurable adoption, and utility-driven token models, marking a shift from hype to fundamentals. Leading the pack is Stacks, a Bitcoin layer enabling yield on idle BTC with $437 million locked and upcoming self-custodial staking. Zest Protocol offers Bitcoin-backed lending with zero bad debt, while Ondo Finance dominates tokenized real-world assets with over $4 billion locked. Other notable projects include Ethena's synthetic dollars, Venice's privacy-focused AI, Pudgy Penguins' mainstream retail brand, Plasma's stablecoin payments, and Maple Finance's institutional lending. These projects highlight real usage and institutional backing, signaling a maturing crypto market focused on sustainable value rather than speculation.
Stacks activated its PoX-5 hard fork on July 30, introducing Bitcoin Bonds that let users lock BTC on Bitcoin's network and earn BTC yield via Stacks. Existing STX stakers must restake under the new contract to keep earning rewards. The upgrade remov...
Seagate Technology's stock rose 2.5% in premarket trading ahead of its earnings report due Tuesday, with analysts expecting $5.10 EPS and $3.5 billion revenue, driven by strong AI-related demand for hard drives. Wedbush upgraded Seagate's price targe...
