A review of 10 KOLs' outlook on the crypto industry in 2026

2025 is coming to an end, and after the bubble, the crypto world is more worth looking forward to.

We have compiled 10 active top crypto KOLs to share their core trend predictions for 2026, which may provide some reference for you.

Editor-in-Chief Wu Colin Wu @colinwu The hot sectors in 2026 may be prediction markets and tokenization of stocks. Although compliance hurdles are high, there is room for imagination. The industry is entering deep water, with privacy, AI+blockchain, stablecoins, and payments still worth关注.

XHunt & Biteye Founder @DeFiTeddy2020 Crypto is not dead. In 2026, there are three certain opportunities: first, US crypto regulation is expected to shift towards friendliness, with the CLARITY Act potentially bringing institutional benefits; second, on-chain finance accelerates penetration into traditional finance; third, AI Agents combined with blockchain. Ultimately, the only way out for crypto remains building truly PMF products, while also paying attention to seven possible black swan events.

DeFi OG Chen Mo @cmdefi Crypto will enter an era of “token interest binding.” Only projects that can bind tokens with protocol revenue and network effects will have a future; otherwise, they will be淘汰.

Day1Global Podcast Founder @starzq Based on institutional and KOL opinions, the key technological trends for 2026 are summarized into 11 major directions, including cryptocurrency and infrastructure, AI, biotechnology, etc., alongside highlights such as BTC/ETH/SOL reaching new highs, hundreds of ETFs, and the GENIUS Act.

KOL CryptoMonkey @monkeyjiang Proposes that the 2026 World Cup may become a breakout point for prediction markets, with Polymarket possibly replicating the wealth effects of BNB and PUMP. The active Chinese market and huge traffic will be key for Polymarket’s growth.

Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorn @intangiblecoins Bitcoin options market expectations are highly uncertain, reflecting high unpredictability for 2026. In the long term, BTC’s maturity increases, volatility decreases, and it is becoming a gold-like inflation hedge asset. Institutional adoption continues to grow, reaching $250,000 by the end of 2027.

Real Vision Founder Raoul Pal @RaoulGMI The real opportunities in the future lie in long-term adoption and liquidity explosion. It is recommended to extend investment cycles, hold quality assets, and avoid “borrowing faith” investments. Zcash is considered the last token with the potential to multiply a hundredfold.

Pantera Capital Managing Partner Paul Veradittakit @veradittakit Nine major trends for 2026 include growth in RWA, AI security applications, prediction market mergers and acquisitions, widespread AI trading assistants, stablecoin pilot programs, continued expansion of stablecoins and perpetual contracts, a surge in crypto IPOs, accelerated institutional macro布局, and integration of digital asset treasuries.

Tomasz Tunguz, Founder of Theory Ventures @ttunguz 2026 will be the year AI accelerates its landing: corporate investments in AI agents will surpass human labor costs for the first time, large-scale IPOs and M&As will emerge, budgets will be more strict, and open-source solutions will be popular. Stablecoins will account for 30% of global payments, with Cloudflare potentially becoming a core payment hub. AI is transforming from a tool into a foundational infrastructure, reshaping the entire business ecosystem.

Investor @0xJeff Faced with intense reshuffling, seven major trends will emerge in 2026: breakout prediction markets, popularity of conservative strategies, a return to fundamentals in crypto narratives, rise of security tokens, consumer-facing products becoming main battlegrounds, the “storytelling” value being re-evaluated, and the entire industry becoming more professional.

Summary:

1. The bubble is being squeezed out; whether projects are sustainable and truly create value has become the new standard.
2. AI, stablecoins, and prediction markets are structural opportunities.
3. Institutional funds are still flowing in, focusing on compliant, cash-flow-stable areas like stablecoins, RWA, and crypto IPOs.
4. Black swan risks still exist; no narrative is entirely certain.

What are your thoughts? Welcome to leave comments and discuss!