Banking tokens are back in the spotlight in 2026 for one simple reason. Crypto rails move money better than legacy rails, and stablecoins are about to eat global payment corridors. Now investors are asking, can Digitap ($TAP) outperform $174 Aave this January?
DeFi’s biggest bank is going head-to-head with one of 2026’s most exciting crypto presales. Both are expected to outperform the market, driven by consumer banking products and value-capture yield opportunities.
But when it comes to upside potential, $TAP ranks as a better altcoin to buy this January. The product is live, demand for better digital-first banking is booming, and $TAP’s tokenomics outclass Aave’s.
This is a new cycle, and that means new winners. Time to dive into why banking tokens are the best cryptos to buy now.
Banking Ready to Be Biggest 2026 Trade
Crypto rails are simply better for payments than outdated TradFi rails. This gives banking altcoins to buy a massive structural advantage. And if the next phase of crypto adoption is driven by more Fintech products that abstract away crypto, both $TAP and AAVE could skyrocket this year.
People send money home every week. Freelancers move value across borders every month. Small businesses settle invoices in multiple currencies constantly. Banking tokens can grow in any market condition because the demand driver is real-world behavior.
It is the growth of stablecoins driving this shift. The winners in 2026 will not be faster layer 1s but the apps that make stablecoins accessible for regular people. Aave is moving in that consumer direction, but Digitap was built for it from day one.
Aave: DeFi’s Biggest Bank
Aave remains the largest and most battle-tested lending protocol in DeFi. Very notable is that, unlike many other altcoins, AAVE never filled the 10/10 wick, indicating far greater strength than 90% of tokens. Aave is simple: it is the bank of DeFi, where users can deposit, borrow, and earn yield on their deposits.
The most recent update is Aave’s consumer push. Aave Labs has been building the Aave App, designed as a savings account-style experience that offers stablecoin yield, available on the App Store. The next major update will be V4.
Aave is already growing beyond DeFi power users and targeting normal savers. This alone makes it an interesting altcoin to buy this year. But when compared to $TAP, the upside potential is simply not the same.
AAVE trading at $175 is a multi-billion dollar project, and it has already had its 100X moment. Now all eyes are on Digitap to see if it can deliver those early returns this year.
Digitap: The Consumer First Omni-Bank
Digitap is a consumer banking app that uses crypto rails. It is the world’s first omni-bank that effectively erases the line between fiat and crypto. The core idea is simple: give users a dashboard, let stablecoins and blockchains do the heavy lifting under the hood, and make money move in real time for anyone anywhere in the world.
The app is live today and available for download on iOS and Android, supporting over 100 cryptocurrencies and 20 fiat currencies. Digitap explicitly going after non-crypto natives is why it ranks as one of the best cryptos to buy now. Delivering better financial services to users worldwide was crypto’s original mission, and years later, Digitap is solving it.
This crypto presale has already raised more than $4 million, showing that the market believes in it. Thousands of users have signed up for the Visa card, which unlocks real-world spending with crypto assets and heavily upgrades stablecoin’s spendability profile.
The other aspect that is drawing serious attention is the multi-rail design, which unlocks the best of TradFi and DeFi. Instant crypto-to-fiat transactions and hyper-aggressive cross-border pricing. Digitap unlocks cross-border transactions for less than 1%, directly attacking the high fees of global payments—the biggest pain point that exists in modern finance.
This is what the next generation of crypto looks like: better products delivered through a familiar interface.
Best Crypto to Buy Now for 2026 Banking Rally: AAVE vs. $TAP
The big decider in 2026 is tokenomics. Investors want to own the protocol and, more importantly, the revenue it produces. Tokens with a link between token demand and platform activity will underperform this year, and Digitap is leaning into that shift aggressively.
Presale buyers are currently earning 124% APY on staking from a fixed pool, and when this crypto presale launches, 50% of platform profits will be allocated to token burns and staking rewards. Holders win as the platform scales, and this aggressive token flywheel is why $TAP should outperform AAVE this year.
$TAP is currently trading at $0.0427, with a confirmed listing price of $0.14, offering easy gains for anyone buying today. Aave is one of DeFi’s best tokens, and a leading altcoin to buy this year, but $TAP offers more features, has a much smaller market cap, and is leading the new generation of fintech-style products.
$TAP could quickly become a market leader, and that’s why it ranks among the best cryptos to buy now in January for the 2026 banking trade.
Discover how Digitap is unifying cash and crypto by checking out their project here:
Presale: https://presale.digitap.app
Website: https://digitap.app
Social: https://linktr.ee/digitap.app
