Three new trends that are rapidly emerging in the crypto view of December are creating momentum for the rest of the year and may be a new voice for 2026
Spending in the Web3 world has hit an all-time high. Washington is shifting towards robotics, and the prediction market is recovering, indicating interesting points for investors.
A record-breaking month for crypto cards.
Crypto card payments have quietly increased in November, which may be the clearest sign that the use of Web3 banking systems is becoming a real trend among consumers.
According to independent researcher Stacy Muur, the volume of crypto cards reached 406 million USD in November, the highest ever, with Rain leading at 240 million USD, followed by RedotPay at 91 million USD and ether.fi Cash at 36 million USD.
Growth leaders include Rain (+22%), Ready (formerly Argent) (+58%), and Ether.fi (+9%). Meanwhile, MetaMask dropped 30%, indicating a shift in user interest towards more utility-focused card products.
The paymentscan data dashboard platform confirms the movement, reporting a single-day volume high of 5 million USD for crypto cards, along with user activity growth.
The increase reflects a growing market theme, with the Web3 banking system gaining real popularity.
In line with a recent report from BeInCrypto, small bank tokens like AVICI, CYPR, and MACHINES are attracting analysts' interest due to real-world spending, self-custody, and crypto accounts with returns.
These initial altcoins may be undervalued compared to the growth of usage in this sector.
Robotics x Crypto Washington sparks.
The second narrative gained momentum this week when the Trump administration shifted its technological focus from AI to robotics. Politico reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is confident in expanding the U.S. robotics sector following a high-level meeting with the CEOs of robotics companies.
Market participants are linking this data immediately. Crypto analyst HK wrote that they are initiating new positions in tokens associated with robotics, identifying PEAQ as an example and adding that there may be several interesting assets for dollar-cost averaging.
Decided to start a position in Robotics x Crypto… Many have declined since the turbulence at the end of October… It may be a good time to dollar-cost average… Increase PEAQ as noted by HK analysts in the post.
If robotics becomes a key policy in 2025, blockchain projects linked to automation, machine coordination, and machine identity may receive renewed attention.
This narrative reflects the boom of AI tokens in 2023–2024 but has a more hardware and industry-focused perspective.
Prediction market, explosive volume combat.
A strong recovery in December may occur in the prediction market. A recent report from BeInCrypto shows that Opinion.Trade had a weekly volume of 1.5 billion USD, averaging 132.5 million USD per day. As a result, the prediction market has surpassed competitors like Kalshi and Polymarket with a market share of 40.4%.
There are two factors driving this growth:
AI-driven prediction models.
The low-cost infrastructure of BNB Chain, driven by the integration of Polymarket in October and the mainnet launch of Opinion Labs.
At the same time, CZ re-entered this sector, revealing a prediction platform supported by YZiLabs on BNB Chain Trust Wallet, followed by the integration of forecasting tools for 220 million users in collaboration with Kalshi, Polymarket, and Myriad.
Data from CoinGecko shows that this category reached a market value of 2.23 billion USD, with a 24-hour trading volume of 49.2 million USD. Trending assets include Limitless, Drift Protocol, and Rain among others.
Many are still under the radar, creating a discovery environment similar to the early 2021 DeFi cycle.
With crypto cards setting new records, the shift in robotics technology in Washington opens a new storyline, and the prediction market enters a high-volume competition. December is shaping up to be a critical turning point.
Investors are now looking for Q1 2026 notes, including updates on regulations, new card integrations, and significant prediction market listings. They may find that these three narratives are shaping early momentum across the market.
