The Question Nobody's Asking Anymore
VET's price dropped sharply from around $0.28 in 2021 to almost nothing. Many thought it was over. Solana and Avalanche got developers interested with DeFi protocols and NFT projects that quickly became popular. VeChain, which focused on enterprise and supply chains, appeared old. Some said retail adoption was slow, validation power was too focused on 101 Authority Masternodes, and the dual-token model seemed to separate network use from VET demand. Even with these worries, VeChain continued to gain business partnerships that would take several years to pay off. The tie-ups focused on real-world supply chains, not just the risky stuff you see in DeFi. VeChain's 2026 prospects hinge on examining its blockchain transaction data and how contracts are being deployed. Right now, the VeChainThor mainnet supports over 940,000 active smart contracts. Just last week, over 37,000 wallets created 1,215 new contracts. This shows real operational infrastructure.
Even with VeChain up and running in warehouses and stores on three continents, people still wonder if it's really worth the cost.
The Enterprise Deals That Kept the Lights On
VeChain news often highlights partnerships with quite a few big-name companies. In June 2019, Walmart China began using VeChainThor's blockchain to keep tabs on products as they move from suppliers to store shelves. They watch each item from when it's made until it hits store shelves across over 20 product lines.
DNV GL, a huge Norwegian company that does checks and ratings, made My Story for food and drinks using VeChain's system. PwC is teaming up with VeChain to give its business clients supply chain tracking tech. BMW tried out VeChain's Startup Garage program to see how blockchain could help with car data management.
Investors now prioritize partnerships over speculation. In July 2025, Franklin Templeton introduced BENJI on VeChain, adding $780M in assets to the network. BitGo handles custody, and Keyrock takes care of the derivatives trading setup. Lululemon is working with VeChain in China so shoppers can check if what they're buying is real. Plus, the University of Sheffield's research center, which includes Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and BAE Systems, did over 100,000 Digital Product Passport transactions on VeChainThor in just December 2025. That's a lot from just one research group in a single month.
VeChain's partnerships helped it weather the recent market drop, but they don't fully explain why VET's price hasn't moved much. The way they do business creates transactions, but it doesn't necessarily increase interest in VET.
How Business Operations Replaced Speculation as Revenue
VeChain works a bit differently than most blockchains. Most blockchains generate revenue by charging users transaction fees. Traders pay fees when they swap tokens, create NFTs, and use DeFi protocols. When the market isn't that interested, these fees go down. But VeChain gets transaction volume from real-world business stuff.
Think about it: a can of baby formula scanned at Walmart in China, a digital record for a part made in Sheffield, or a green action checked on the VeBetter platform. These are all normal business tasks, not just market fads. VeBetter tracked 48 million sustainable actions across more than 50 apps, involving 5.2 million digital wallets in its network. VeChain stated that this project cut down on waste by 412,000 kg, saved 9 MWh of energy, and kept 11 million liters of water from being lost.
Can VET's price respond? Not really right now. Over the last year, VET's value has dropped by about 70%. Lately, the daily trading volume has dropped almost 28%, landing around $20 million. This gap between how the network is used and the token's price is on purpose. VeChain runs on two tokens: VTHO, which handles transaction costs for businesses, and VET, which generates the VTHO required to keep the network going. Therefore, more scanning doesn't directly make VET more wanted.
Usually, VeChain investors and business clients want different things. Businesses care about the platform's practical features, but token holders are more interested in the vechain price going up, which doesn't always happen when companies start using VeChain. VeChain's Hayabusa update went live on December 2, 2025, changing the network to a Delegated Proof-of-Stake system and updating how VTHO is created. If you hold VET, you'll need to stake your tokens to get VTHO. Right now, over 9 billion VET tokens are staked through the StarGate 2.0 dashboard.
Walmart China: The Proof That Survived Seven Years
VeChain's work with Walmart China shows how well the platform can track items as they move along the supply chain. Back when their tracking system started in 2019, not many people in the crypto world cared. For the last seven years, the platform has run smoothly across 23 product lines in a major retail market. It's still running.
VeChain has been around for a while and has seen its share of ups and downs in the market, showing staying power in the crypto world where many projects don't last long. They also got a license in 2025 that allows them to follow the rules in the European Union. Franklin Templeton created its BENJI project using VeChain's blockchain. Rekord has developed a platform that helps EU companies track and share sustainability data across their supply chains.
VeChain's partnership with Rekord in November 2025 shows that more companies are starting to use blockchain tech. Because the EU requires Digital Product Passports, these rules change the conversation to who is already doing that kind of thing? VeChain is in a good position to answer that question. Still, they have competition from companies like IBM, Oracle, and SAP, who have strong business connections and can add blockchain to their current software deals. According to Bitget Academy, partnerships usually take about 18 months to 3 years to go from announcement to full operation.
VeChain price prediction hasn't moved much lately, even though the crypto market has been all over the place. Just staying afloat in the market isn't enough to call it a win if people aren't buying and trading is slow.
The Verdict: Alive, Operational, and Underpriced by Every Metric Except Hype
Crypto often favors hype. Meme coins, celebrity-backed tokens, and cartoon-branded projects routinely attract disproportionate attention compared to their fundamental value. VeChain's verification badge is actually useful, but it simply can't get as much attention on social media as those dog-themed meme coins.
That's the strange thing. VeChain is currently ranked between #72 and #88 on CoinMarketCap. The token is trading for less than a penny, and its market cap is about $609M. In 2024, meme coins lacking technical foundations achieved massive valuations driven largely by speculative fervor. Did VeChain fail? It's hard to say that when the network is handling hundreds of thousands of business transactions each month, has 5.5 million VeBetter users, and just added a $780 million tokenized platform from a major global money manager. That token's price performance lags expectations despite the attention, which may reflect current business fundamentals rather than signal anything about future performance. It all depends on how you measure it.
VeChain plans to achieve complete Ethereum tool support and enable cross-chain capabilities throughout its network by late 2026, targeting the Intergalactic phase of its Renaissance roadmap. If that happens, it could bring Ethereum developers and DeFi apps to VeChainThor, maybe connecting business use with investor interest. Nothing's confirmed yet, though. But the tech behind it is real. The network has processed over 530 million transactions. Eight years online. Big names like Walmart, DNV, PwC, and Franklin Templeton use it. VeChain focused on real-world business solutions, not just investment hype, to establish itself. Markets still favor bet-heavy tokens over technology-focused projects. The market remains unconvinced for now. But that tech will still be there when the next market swing asks the question again.
