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After years of volatility and experimentation, crypto is entering an institutional phase as regulation, AI infrastructure, and tokenized assets reshape the market.
Over the past year, the crypto market has recorded many milestones. Stablecoins reached a market capitalization of roughly $126 billion, while the total crypto market capitalization crossed the $4 trillion threshold for the first time. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, reached a new all-time high of over $126,000. Meanwhile, pro-crypto regulation took center stage with the emergence of bills like the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act.
Together, these developments underscore crypto’s shift from a speculative asset class toward financial infrastructure – a transition analysts expect to accelerate in 2026.
Market & Price Predictions
Major institutions broadly expect crypto markets to be more stable in 2026, with prices increasingly driven by institutional capital and regulation rather than retail speculation.
In “2026 Digital Asset Outlook: Dawn of the Institutional Era”, asset manager Grayscale expects Bitcoin to reach a new all-time high in the first half of 2026, citing clearer laws, sustained inflows, and the mining of the 20 millionth Bitcoin. While the firm does not give a price target, it says 2026 could mark a lasting shift toward long-term adoption.
Bitwise, in its report “The Year Ahead: 10 Crypto Predictions for 2026”, predicts Bitcoin will surpass its previous high of $126,000 and continue rising through the year. The firm argues that the traditional four-year crypto cycle is weakening as institutional money flows grow.
The firm also expects Bitcoin’s volatility to keep falling and forecasts new all-time highs for Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), driven by staking, tokenization, and clearer rules.
Brian Huang, CEO and co-founder of Glider, told The Defiant that Bitcoin could reach $150,000 and Ethereum $4,000 by year-end. Currently, BTC is trading at $88,000; ETH is changing hands at $2,950; and SOL is hovering around $123.
RWAs & Tokenization
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), which currently have an on-chain value of over $34 billion, are expected to reach at least $50 billion by 2026 year-end, driven by rapid growth in tokenized Treasuries, according to Mike Marshall of Amberdata.
Meanwhile, Jürgen Blumberg, COO of Centrifuge and CIO of Anemoy, predicts that extended crypto volatility will push total RWA value locked beyond $100 billion by the end of 2026.
“More than half of the 20 biggest asset managers on the planet will have launched RWA tokens by the end of 2026 – most will leverage technology partners to do so,” Blumberg said. “Index providers will move on chain, and 80 percent of the global top 10 will have committed to proof of index concepts on chain.”
Philipp Pieper from Swarm emphasized that tokenized assets will be judged not just by how many are issued, but by how useful they are. “By 2026, tokenized products will be judged not by issuance volume, but by what they can actually do – settle instantly, serve as collateral, and integrate with automated financial systems,” he said.
Dennis Dinkelmeyer, the CEO and co-founder of Midas, told The Defiant that he believes tokenization strategies will also expand beyond crypto-native institutions and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to traditional asset managers, corporate treasuries, and family offices that have been waiting for regulatory clarity and operational maturity.
Large institutions broadly agree that tokenization will be one of crypto’s most important growth areas in 2026 – but only if it moves beyond early experiments.
A16z argues in its latest report that tokenization is a significant opportunity but says early projects often copied traditional finance rather than leveraging crypto’s strengths. The firm expects continued growth in crypto-native designs, such as perpetual futures, synthetic assets, and on-chain financial products.
“Origination onchain reduces loan servicing costs, back office structuring costs, and increases accessibility,” said Guy Wuollet, a16z crypto general partner. “The challenging part here will be compliance and standardization, but builders are already working on solving those problems.”
Grayscale also sees tokenization at an “inflection point.” While tokenized assets remain a small slice of global markets today, the firm expects growth to accelerate as regulation improves and infrastructure matures. “By 2030, it would not be surprising to see tokenized assets grow by ~1,000x, in our view,” the report reads.
Stablecoins
Stablecoins are widely seen as crypto’s most practical use case, and the past year reinforced that view as major players like JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Zelle moved toward stablecoin-based infrastructure. Institutions now expect stablecoins to play a much larger role in 2026.
A16z notes that stablecoins already handle an estimated $46 trillion in annual transaction volume, which is more than many major payment networks. The main challenge now is access: connecting stablecoins to the payment systems people already use.
The firm expects the next wave of adoption to come from better onramps and offramps that link stablecoins directly to bank accounts, cards, local payment rails, and digital wallets.
Grayscale shares this view, arguing that clearer regulation will push stablecoins deeper into financial infrastructure. As rules mature, activity is expected to concentrate among regulated issuers and expand across payments, settlement, and collateral use.
Looking further ahead, Keyrock projects that stablecoins could account for 12% of global cross-border payment flows and reach $1 trillion in annual payment volume by 2030.
AI x Crypto
Experts predict 2026 will be a turning point for A.I.-focused crypto projects. Sean Ren, Co-Founder of Sahara A.I., says hype-driven tokens will struggle, while projects with real revenue and use cases will survive.
“The hype era is ending,” he said in comments shared with The Defiant, “and true utility will decide who survives the next cycle.”
Ren added that the next advantage will not be raw computing power, but deep expertise in fields like finance, medicine, and science. “As agents start interacting with real assets and higher-stakes systems, the ecosystem will demand infrastructure that can automatically attribute value, enforce usage rules, and prove that each computation was executed correctly,” he said.
A16z adds that as AI systems become more autonomous, they will need ways to send payments, confirm identity, and manage data rights without human involvement. This is driving interest in AI agents that can pay for services like data, APIs, or computing power on their own.
Coinbase also points to rising on-chain activity tied to AI agents, prediction markets, and automated finance. The team said that AI agents could significantly speed up on-chain development, allowing even non-technical founders to launch products in days rather than months.
“AI agents possess the capacity to catalyze a surge of innovation, potentially resulting in the expansion of novel onchain applications and substantially improved user experiences,” the report reads.