The Year Ahead: 10 Crypto Predictions for 2026

2025 was a year to remember for crypto—both the highs and the lows.

On the plus side: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP each hit all-time highs. On the downside: Crypto majors retreated sharply from their highs to end the year.

But, as we lay out in our just-published annual predictions, we think 2026 will belong to the bulls. From institutional adoption to regulatory progress, crypto’s prevailing positive trends are too strong to be subdued for long.

Here are our 10 predictions for the year ahead. 

Please note: As with all predictions, these are not guarantees, but represent our best informed estimate. The future is complex and conditional, and whether these pan out exactly as written will depend on many complicated factors. Nothing that follows is investment advice.

• Prediction 1: Bitcoin will break the four-year cycle and set new all-time highs.

• Prediction 2: Bitcoin will be less volatile than Nvidia.

• Prediction 3: ETFs will purchase more than 100% of the new supply of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, as institutional demand accelerates.

• Prediction 4: Crypto equities will outperform tech equities.

• Prediction 5: Polymarket open interest will set a new all-time high, surpassing 2024 election levels.

• Prediction 6: Stablecoins will be blamed for destabilizing an emerging market currency.

• Prediction 7: Onchain vaults—aka “ETFs 2.0”—will double in AUM.

• Prediction 8: Ethereum and Solana will set new all-time highs (if the CLARITY Act passes).

• Prediction 9: Half of Ivy League endowments will invest in crypto.

• Prediction 10: More than 100 crypto-linked ETFs will launch in the U.S.

• Bonus Prediction: Bitcoin’s correlation with stocks will fall.