MESSARI 2026 THESIS

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

~80% of this year's themes show up in Messari's 2026 thesis, with standout sections on “crypto money,” “TradFi x crypto,” and “decentralized internet finance.” Most L1s can't rely on fee capture in a cheap-blockspace world, so they lean on “monetary premiums” (belief-based value), but only a few assets can sustain that. Messari's ETH framing is ultimately also slightly contradictory, as they are bearish on fees/revenue share and bullish on “winning sectors” like RWAs. RWAs may simply be low-velocity (vault-like), so they don't translate into high chain revenue.