In 2026, “the world will be built on IOTA,” predicts on-chain analysis house Nansen
- Nansen argues that 2026 could be a year in which IOTA becomes the basis of new on-chain workflows through real economy applications.
- Nansen bases the bullish case on an enterprise stack and on ADAPT as a real-world adaptation in the AfCFTA zone.
On-chain analytics firm Nansen predicts in a new Q4 2025 report that “2026 will be the year the world builds on IOTA, not just with it.” Nansen shared the analysis on January 30 via
The on-chain company explains that IOTA has never been a chain for quick hype. No flashy DeFi cycles, no memecoins, but lots of “public infrastructure” projects.
Why 2026 could be the year for IOTA
In the Q4 2025 report, Nansen turns this into a bullish case: IOTA does not rely on short-term metrics, but rather on an infrastructure setup that enables governments, companies and institutions to handle real processes on chain. Nansen writes:
“This quarter was marked not by speculation or short-term metrics, but by building a foundational infrastructure that positions IOTA as the rails for regulated, real-world blockchain applications. While many projects focus almost exclusively on DeFi and speculative use cases, IOTA shows a different path: building the trusted infrastructure layer that governments, companies and institutions need to bring physical assets, trading and identity systems onchain.”
The report points to a “stack” that is now ready for use in the real economy: interoperability via LayerZero/Stargate, institutional custody via BitGo, plus identity (IOTA Identity + Trust Framework) and developer infrastructure so that companies don’t have to spend months working on wallets, key management and compliance workarounds.
The strongest evidence of real-world adoption is ADAPT, a digital trade infrastructure initiative in the AfCFTA zone, with partners including the World Economic Forum and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Nansen argues that if commerce, documents and identity cannot be digitized in a trustworthy manner, “blockchain for the real world remains a pretty pitch.”
“The AfCFTA is a $3.4 trillion trade area involving 1.3 billion people in 55 countries. At the same time, trade is slowed by complex customs procedures, paper-based documentation, limited trust infrastructure and fragmented regulatory frameworks. These frictions cost billions every year through delays, trade financing gaps and lost economic opportunities.”
Nansen emphasizes that ADAPT will use the IOTA mainnet, particularly IOTA Identity and the Trust Framework, to build digital trade documents, supply chain traceability and trade finance infrastructure:
“Bills of lading, certificates of origin and customs declarations should be issued as verifiable credentials on IOTA, which will reduce processing times from days to minutes and enable real-time customs clearance.”
In the section “Looking Ahead: 2026 and Beyond” the core message is: The building blocks are no longer hypothetical, but “operational”. Nansen sums it up like this:
“The building blocks for enterprise adoption are now operational. LayerZero and Stargate enable IOTA tokens to flow across more than 70 blockchains and break down interoperability barriers. BitGo delivers enterprise-grade security and regulatory compliance. Together, this addresses the typical drags: interoperability, custody, identity and developer experience.”
And in the “Closing Thoughts” part, the report gets very optimistic: less hype, more foundation, and that’s exactly what could carry 2026 when ADAPT and similar deployments really scale into production.
“The priority is to build solid infrastructure for asset tokenization, secure data exchange and programmable settlement – systems that must function reliably at enterprise and even national levels. It’s about laying the foundations so that real deployments can grow without friction.”
end/ IOTA just turned 10.
2026 will be the year the world builds on IOTA, not just with it.
Read the report: https://t.co/XzX3STr1Zr
— Nansen
(@nansen_ai) January 30, 2026
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