GM. New year, clean calendar, same chaotic crypto energy. Welcome to the very first edition of 2026!

🤔 What analysts said would happen in 2025 vs. what actually did;

🔮 10 crypto predictions for 2026.

🎉 Market spark today

🤔 What analysts said would happen in 2025 vs. what actually did

On the first edition of 2025, we shared what analysts thought would happen in crypto this year.

Big numbers. Bold calls. Maximum confidence.

Now that 2025 is officially in the rearview mirror, we're looking back at what they said…

and comparing it to what actually happened.

Spoiler: some takes aged like fine wine... and others aged like milk.

1/ Bitcoin

Many forecasts expected BTC to reach new all-time highs well above $150K in 2025.

Bitcoin did reach a record high around $126K... but then dropped, and we ended the year at around $87K.

The verdict:

❌ Bullish energy was right... but magnitude + sustainability were overestimated.

2/ Ethereum

Forecasts last year pointed to Ethereum surging into the $5.5K - $8K range.

And while ETH did see notable price increases at various points, it never went above $4.9K.

The verdict:

❌ Fundamentals did improve... but the price never matched the hopium.

3/ Solana

Solana targets were as high as $500 - $750.

And in reality, Solana and many altcoins saw a lot of interest... but no sustained breakout to those numbers.

The verdict:

❌ Ecosystem stayed alive and active, but price lagged.

4/ Crypto ETFs

The expectation was that ETFs would outperform already-strong 2024 inflows, BTC ETF assets would push above $250B, and there'd be massive ETH ETF demand.

ETF adoption did continue and became normalized across portfolios, but inflows were uneven and fell short of the most aggressive projections.

The verdict:

❌ Structural win, numerical miss.

5/ Crypto IPO wave

Forecasts named Circle, Figure, Kraken, Anchorage Digital, and Chainalysis as 2025 IPO candidates.

👉 Circle did go public.

👉 Kraken advanced IPO preparations but did not complete a listing in 2025.

👉 Others remained private.

The verdict:

✅ Circle delivered.

❌ The rest slipped.

6/ AI agents & memecoin mania

The idea was that AI-launched tokens would ignite a bigger memecoin mania than 2024.

What actually happened: AI stayed hot as a narrative, but AI agents did not dominate markets.

The verdict:

❌ Miss.

7/ Strategic Bitcoin reserve in the US

The prediction was that the US would move toward a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

And the US did sign an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded with Bitcoin the government already held.

However, no confirmed new BTC purchases took place.

The verdict:

✅ Reserve created.

❌ But the US didn't start buying.

8/ More countries holding Bitcoin

Some analysts thought that said that at least 5 new countries would add BTC, others even went as far as to say that the number of BTC-holding nations would double.

And while there was some interest and exploration in 2025, there was no major wave of public reserve additions.

The verdict:

❌ Miss.

9/ Coinbase + MicroStrategy level up

Forecast: Coinbase into S&P 500, MicroStrategy into Nasdaq-100.

The verdict:

✅ Both happened.

10/ Stablecoins

Forecasts called for:

👉 Stablecoin assets doubling to ~$400B;

👉 $300B in daily transactions;

👉 10+ TradFi-backed stablecoins launching.

Reality:

Stablecoins were one of 2025's strongest themes.

Assets and transaction volume expanded materially, regulation clarity improved, TradFi participation increased, and Circle's IPO reinforced stablecoins as core financial infrastructure, even if not every numeric target was hit.

The verdict:

✅ W!

Final verdict

2025 wasn't about price fireworks. It was about infrastructure, regulation, and slower-than-expected maturity.

The forecasts assumed speed. Reality delivered progress - just at half the pace.

And what could we expect in 2026?.. Find out below! 👇

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🎆 Coins that popped

Memecoins are making more moves than our New Year's resolutions 🎯

Data as of 09:51 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

👇 10 crypto predictions for 2026

1/ Bitcoin

Bitcoin is expected to make new all-time highs in 2026.

Multiple forecasts cluster around the $130K - $150K+ range.

Some are calling an end to the 4-year cycle.

2/ Bitcoin volatility

Analysts think BTC volatility will fall to levels comparable with large-cap equities.

This would make it easier for institutions to allocate at scale.

3/ ETFs keep vacuuming supply

Crypto ETFs are projected to buy more than 100% of new BTC, ETH, and SOL issuance.

4/ Ethereum

Ethereum is expected to become the primary settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets.

5/ Stablecoins

Stablecoin market cap is expected to approach $400B+, with daily transaction volume rivaling traditional payment networks as regulation stabilizes.

6/ Tokenized real-world assets

Tokenized stocks, bonds, and funds are expected to exceed hundreds of billions of dollars in on-chain value.

Major financial institutions are expected to start accepting them as collateral.

7/ DeFi

Decentralized exchanges are expected to capture 25 -30% of global spot crypto trading volume.

8/ Prediction markets

Prediction markets are expected to reach new all-time highs in open interest and usage.

9/ AI + crypto

AI agents are expected to rely on crypto rails for payments, coordination, and data access.

10/ Crypto goes fully institutional

By the end of 2026, analysts expect 100+ crypto-related ETFs in the US markets.

Pension funds and model portfolios are expected to hold crypto exposure as standard.

Some of these will age well. Some of 'em won't.

Crypto has never cared much for forecasts - but we'll find out soon enough 👀

🥂 Cheers to the memes