Key Takeaways
- • Bitwise Asset Management published its annual outlook listing 10 crypto predictions for 2026, plus a bonus prediction, arguing that the year will favor bullish crypto trends despite a sharp late-2025 retreat in major tokens.
- • Bitwise predicts Bitcoin will break its four-year cycle and set new all-time highs in 2026, and that ETFs will purchase more than 100% of new supply of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
- • The firm forecasts crypto equities will outperform tech equities, Polymarket open interest will set a record above 2024 election levels, and more than 100 crypto-linked ETFs will launch in the U.S.
- • Bitwise frames all predictions as non-guaranteed estimates contingent on complex factors, and states that nothing in the outlook constitutes investment advice.
Summary
Bitwise Asset Management has released its "10 Crypto Predictions for 2026," describing 2025 as a year of extremes. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP each reached all-time highs during the year, but crypto majors fell sharply from those peaks by year-end. Bitwise nonetheless argues that 2026 "will belong to the bulls," citing institutional adoption and regulatory progress as trends it views as too strong to be suppressed for long.
The firm's core calls center on institutional flows and market structure. Bitwise predicts Bitcoin will break the four-year halving cycle and set new all-time highs, and that Bitcoin will be less volatile than Nvidia. It also expects ETFs to purchase more than 100% of the new supply of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana as institutional demand accelerates, and that more than 100 crypto-linked ETFs will launch in the United States during the year.
Other predictions address equities, prediction markets, and stablecoins. Bitwise expects crypto equities to outperform tech equities and Bitcoin's correlation with stocks to decline. It forecasts Polymarket open interest will reach a new all-time high, surpassing 2024 election levels, and that stablecoins will be blamed for destabilizing an emerging market currency. Onchain vaults, which Bitwise terms "ETFs 2.0," are projected to double in assets under management. Bitwise also predicts that Ethereum and Solana will set new all-time highs if the CLARITY Act passes, and that half of Ivy League endowments will invest in crypto.
Bitwise notes that all predictions are its best informed estimates and not guarantees. The firm manages $9 billion in client assets across more than 70 products, including ETFs, separately managed accounts, private funds, DeFi strategies, and staking, and serves more than 5,500 private wealth teams, RIAs, family offices, and institutional investors.
The firm's core calls center on institutional flows and market structure. Bitwise predicts Bitcoin will break the four-year halving cycle and set new all-time highs, and that Bitcoin will be less volatile than Nvidia. It also expects ETFs to purchase more than 100% of the new supply of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana as institutional demand accelerates, and that more than 100 crypto-linked ETFs will launch in the United States during the year.
Other predictions address equities, prediction markets, and stablecoins. Bitwise expects crypto equities to outperform tech equities and Bitcoin's correlation with stocks to decline. It forecasts Polymarket open interest will reach a new all-time high, surpassing 2024 election levels, and that stablecoins will be blamed for destabilizing an emerging market currency. Onchain vaults, which Bitwise terms "ETFs 2.0," are projected to double in assets under management. Bitwise also predicts that Ethereum and Solana will set new all-time highs if the CLARITY Act passes, and that half of Ivy League endowments will invest in crypto.
Bitwise notes that all predictions are its best informed estimates and not guarantees. The firm manages $9 billion in client assets across more than 70 products, including ETFs, separately managed accounts, private funds, DeFi strategies, and staking, and serves more than 5,500 private wealth teams, RIAs, family offices, and institutional investors.
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