The rise of the 12 biggest winners and predictions of industry trends in 2026.
Written by: Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News
If 2024 was the "year of recovery" for the cryptocurrency industry, then 2025 will be the year when the industry's "infrastructure finally gains recognition."
This year, the emerging industry started with cautious optimism in January and by December it had clear support from federal regulations.
As a result, the industry narrative has completely shifted from "cryptocurrency is equivalent to casino" to "cryptocurrency is the infrastructure of capital markets".
During this period, trading volume shifted on-chain, policymaking came into the White House's view, and large asset management companies no longer hesitated—the most obvious example being Vanguard's shift in stance earlier this month, which allowed cryptocurrency ETFs to be listed on its platform.
However, despite record-breaking capital inflows and legislative victories throughout the year, the gains were not shared equally among all participants.
The winners of 2025 will not only be those assets whose prices rise, but also the agreements, people and products that will fundamentally establish themselves in the future financial landscape.
Based on CryptoSlate's analysis, here are 12 clear winners of the year and why they are important:
1. The United States and the Trump administration
Discussions about the cryptocurrency landscape in 2025 cannot ignore the enormous impact of the shift in the US stance. For years, the cryptocurrency industry has been in a state of "being ready to leave at any time," viewing Dubai or Singapore as potential "safe havens."
But in 2025, the United States completely closed this "door of withdrawal," and all parties in the industry were happy to accept this change. Therefore, this victory belongs not only to the United States jurisdiction but also to the core forces at the top that drove this transformation.
In less than 12 months, the administration led by the 47th U.S. President Donald Trump has fulfilled many of the long-standing demands of the cryptocurrency industry, effectively bringing the digital asset economy "back to the homeland."
Multiple executive orders supporting digital assets set the tone, while its strategic victory is reflected in specific tactics:
The GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, provides a definition for stablecoins at the federal level for the first time.
The executive order on "strategic Bitcoin reserves" issued in March sent a clear signal to global sovereign wealth funds that digital assets have become an important issue at the national security level.
Crucially, by pushing for leadership changes at the U.S. SEC and CFTC, the Trump administration dispelled the fog surrounding "regulation through law enforcement."
Essentially, Trump's series of actions set the tone for the United States to "become the global cryptocurrency hub."
2026 Outlook: Consolidation of US Hegemony
The US is expected to actively export its newly established industry standards. Furthermore, the executive order that took effect on January 1st explicitly prohibits the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), clearing the way for private sector innovation: the dollar will still move towards digitalization in the future, but the issuers will be Tether, Circle, and various banks, rather than the Federal Reserve.
2. US spot ETFs
(Represented by IBIT, including the ETH, SOL, and XRP ETF camp)
As the primary tool for institutions to enter the cryptocurrency market, cryptocurrency spot ETFs not only "survived their second year" in 2025, but also thrived even when Bitcoin underperformed.
The fact that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has become one of the top ten ETFs in terms of inflows in the United States, even surpassing traditional giants such as Invesco QQQ Trust and SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), is the most direct proof of this.
IBIT Cumulative Net Inflow (Source: SoSo Value)
In addition to Bitcoin, Ethereum spot ETFs have also solidified their position as the "default entry point" for wealth management institutions—making debates such as "if it's not your private key, it's not your asset" irrelevant among institutional investors.
September was a key turning point: the SEC approved the "General Listing Standard." This technical but crucial policy victory significantly reduced the approval process for future products, eliminating the need to submit separate 19b-4 filings for each new code.
Subsequently, the market saw a surge of new products focusing on other digital assets (such as Solana and XRP), all of which have delivered strong performance this year.
2026 Outlook: Product Diversification and Risk Reduction
With Vanguard Group opening access to cryptocurrency ETFs on December 1st, a large number of "basket ETFs" and "covered call option ETFs" are expected to emerge. A more robust options market will begin to reduce realized volatility, ultimately making cryptocurrency an asset class more acceptable to conservative pension funds.
3. Solana (SOL)
By 2025, Solana had completely shed its "high-risk beta asset" label, and the old narrative of "fast but faulty" had become history.
At the same time, Solana also completed the most difficult transformation in the cryptocurrency industry this year: from a "meme coin casino" to a "liquidity layer for the global market".
While maintaining its dominant position in the cultural sphere, CoinGecko data shows that Solana has been the world's most watched blockchain ecosystem for two consecutive years (2024-2025).
Today, the Solana network no longer operates solely around speculative tokens, but has become a "gathering place for efficient capital".
According to Artemis data, Solana has become a core liquidity layer: its on-chain SOL-USD trading volume has exceeded the combined SOL spot trading volume of Binance and Bybit (two of the top three centralized exchanges in terms of global trading volume) for three consecutive months.
Solana's on-chain transaction volume surpasses that of Binance and Bybit's spot trading volume (Source: Artemis).
Essentially, Solana has positioned itself as "the primary venue for activities sensitive to transaction execution speed." Its competitors are no longer just Ethereum, but also traditional financial market platforms like Nasdaq.
2026 Outlook: On-chain price discovery becomes mainstream
This "on-chain shift" of trading volume signifies a structural change: price discovery is moving from centralized exchanges to on-chain. By 2026, Solana will no longer be a "high-risk beta network," but rather a primary venue for high-frequency, stablecoin-denominated trading.
4. Ethereum Layer 2 Network Base
If Solana's advantage lies in its "speed," then Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network Base wins out with its "user reach."
By leveraging the US exchange’s large existing user base, Base has become the “default choice for consumer applications and stablecoin experiments”, with extremely high user stickiness.
Base's success proves that in the cryptocurrency industry in 2025, "user reach" is more important than "novel crypto technology." It has become an incubator for "mass-market crypto applications"—consumer fintech apps that use cryptocurrency infrastructure in the backend without the user's knowledge. In essence, Base serves as a bridge connecting the chaotic on-chain world with Coinbase's compliant and secure system.
2026 Outlook: The Rise of "Wallet-Native Commerce"
Base is expected to become the "core engine" for Coinbase's entry into the merchant payments field next year, and "wallet-native commerce" (commercial activities based on crypto wallets) may become a new trend in the industry.
5. Ripple and XRP
After years of legal difficulties, 2025 finally became the year that Ripple and XRP "gained their freedom".
The protracted legal battle between Ripple and the SEC has come to a final verdict, clearing the way for institutional adoption of XRP.
As a result, XRP's narrative shifted overnight from a "litigation risk asset" to a "liquidity engine," driving its price up and paving the way for the launch of the first XRP spot ETFs in November.
XRP Exchange Traded Fund Daily Fund Flow (Source: SoSo Value)
Meanwhile, Ripple has been making significant acquisitions of traditional financial infrastructure this year: in 2025 alone, Ripple has invested more than $4 billion in strategic acquisitions, most notably including the acquisitions of prime brokerage Hidden Road, treasury management firm GTreasury, and stablecoin infrastructure provider Rail.
These moves have completely transformed Ripple from a "payment company" into a "full-stack institutional giant".
2026 Outlook: Integrating Traditional Finance with the Crypto Ecosystem
XRP's "ETFification" is just the beginning. As legal risks dissipate and Wall Street products are launched, 2026 will be the "year of consolidation": Ripple's newly acquired treasury management and brokerage business units are expected to begin cross-promoting the RLUSD stablecoin to Fortune 500 companies, ultimately breaking down the barriers between Ripple's ledger and corporate balance sheets.
6. Zcash and privacy coins
The resurgence of Zcash and the entire privacy coin sector is the most unexpected "comeback story" in the cryptocurrency industry in 2025.
As the best-performing sector in 2025, privacy coins have shed the stigma of "illegal uses" and become the darling of the "post-surveillance economy era".
The outstanding performance of privacy coins in 2025 (Source: Artemis)
While Zcash is leading this recovery, the momentum has spread across the entire privacy coin space: Ethereum developers are accelerating their privacy-related initiatives, and other privacy solutions are finally being put into practical use on the mainnet.
Furthermore, the "thawing" of the regulatory environment is also quite evident—the SEC held its first formal meeting with the head of privacy protocols to discuss the establishment of a compliance framework. This would have been completely unimaginable just a year ago.
2026 Outlook: The Birth of "Privacy DeFi"
The privacy coin sector is expected to "diverge" in 2026: privacy will become a "high-end feature" for compliant institutions. Wall Street will actively adopt these "selective disclosure tools" to prevent MEV (Maximum Extractable Value) front-running and protect the confidentiality of proprietary trading strategies.
7. Asset Tokenization (RWAs)
With the strong support of the SEC's friendly attitude, Real-World Assets (RWAs) have transformed from "pilot projects" into "core infrastructure" of the cryptocurrency industry.
The SEC's shift away from a hostile enforcement approach has allowed large institutions to confidently consolidate these assets without fear of receiving a "Wells Notice" (a precursor to an SEC investigation).
The acceptance of BlackRock's BUIDL fund as "off-chain collateral" by Binance is a watershed moment in the field—it blurs the lines between traditional finance (TradFi) and the cryptocurrency market structure.
By December, assets under management (AUM) of tokenized money market funds and U.S. Treasury bonds had exceeded $8 billion, while the entire RWA market was worth approximately $20 billion.
RWA Assets (Source: RWA.xyz)
In addition, traditional financial giants such as BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity, Nasdaq, and Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have high hopes for the RWA sector, hoping to improve the transparency and efficiency of the traditional financial industry through it.
As SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated:
"On-chain markets will bring investors greater predictability, transparency, and efficiency."
2026 Outlook: Improved Efficiency of "Quasi-Buyback" Transactions
As major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and BNY Mellon continue to integrate RWA assets, a 24/7 collateral market is expected to gradually take shape, driving the sector’s assets under management toward $18 billion.
8. Stablecoins
The debate over the "killer app for cryptocurrencies" has settled: stablecoins are the core infrastructure. In October 2025, the total market capitalization of stablecoins surpassed $300 billion; in September, the supply of stablecoins within the Ethereum ecosystem also reached a record high of $166 billion.
In fact, data from Token Terminal shows that the total number of stablecoin holders has reached a historical peak of approximately 200 million.
Stablecoin holders (Source: Token Terminal)
This data indicates that the growth in the stablecoin sector stems from its core capabilities of "cross-border, 24/7, and instant settlement".
At the same time, legislative progress in the United States (especially the passage of the GENIUS Act) has provided legal certainty for banks to enter the stablecoin field.
Essentially, stablecoins are no longer just "trading chips," but are becoming the "settlement layer" of global fintech. As Open Eden founder Jeremy NG stated:
"Stablecoins have moved from being an 'infrastructure accessory' to the 'core of financial infrastructure' of cryptocurrencies."
2026 Outlook: Revenue-Driven Growth
Programmatic government bond investment and foreign exchange trading are expected to be the core drivers of stablecoin growth, with the total market capitalization of stablecoins expected to reach a benchmark level of $380 billion by 2026.
9. Perp DEXs
On-chain derivatives will completely break through the "credibility bottleneck" in 2025 - with monthly trading volume reaching a record $1.2 trillion in October.
This sector has become a winner because it has successfully attracted a large amount of trading volume from centralized exchanges (CEXs): on-chain perpetual contract exchanges have gained favor with traders by offering "self-custody" features and more attractive incentive mechanisms.
Trading volume of perpetual contracts on decentralized exchanges is rising (Source: DeFiLlama)
The rise of perpetual contract decentralized exchanges (Perp DEXs) such as Hyperliquid and Aster signifies the maturity of the DeFi market structure. Today, traders are willing to take on billions of dollars of smart contract risk in order to hedge against counterparty risk.
2026 Outlook: Increased Competition in Transaction Fees
On-chain open interest (OI) is becoming a legitimate indicator of macroeconomic risk. However, a fierce "fee war" may erupt in this sector in 2026 – with protocols vying for the $1.2 trillion monthly trading volume.
10. Market Forecasting
2025 marked the year that "event contracts" (the core product of prediction markets) entered the mainstream US market: the two leading platforms in the field, Kalshi and Polymarket, both set record trading volumes.
But an even more significant victory is the entry of numerous traditional financial institutions and crypto-native companies such as Gemini and Coinbase into this emerging field.
Predicting weekly market trading volume (Source: Dune Analytics)
Prediction markets have become winners because they bridge the gap between "gambling" and "finance." Furthermore, Polymarket has gained a clear development path through the revised framework of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), transforming "event contracts" from a "niche internet novelty product" into a "compliant hedging tool."
Outlook for 2026: Standardization and Scaling
Event contracts are becoming a standardized asset class. With the "outcome economy" (financial activity surrounding event outcomes) projected to reach a notional value of $60 billion, crypto wallet infrastructure and USDC flows are poised for significant growth.
11. Hong Kong, China
While the United States focuses on legislation, Hong Kong has placed its emphasis on its "enforcement advantages"—and the data speaks for itself. In the third quarter of 2025, Hong Kong's ETP (Exchange Traded Products) market officially surpassed South Korea and Japan to become the world's third-largest ETP market in terms of trading volume, with an average daily turnover of HK$37.8 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 150%.
Hong Kong's strategy of "attracting the industry through clear regulation" has yielded tangible results in the exchange sector: the Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) system has evolved from a vague "presumed license" state into a sound ecosystem.
By mid-2025, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) had issued formal licenses to more major global exchanges, bringing the total number of licensed exchanges to 11. This move effectively brought institutional liquidity in the region into a "compliant, bank-connected" system while isolating unregulated participants.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance, which came into effect on August 1, created a "high-quality sandbox"—which had attracted more than 30 applications by the September application deadline.
2026 Outlook: Becoming an Asian Settlement Center
With the first batch of stablecoin licenses expected to be issued in early 2026, Hong Kong is poised to become Asia's cryptocurrency settlement hub. By combining its status as one of the world's top three ETP markets with its licensed stablecoin infrastructure, Hong Kong has successfully positioned itself as a key valve for institutional liquidity in the Asia-Pacific region.
12. Early believers (cryptocurrency investors)
The last spot on this list belongs to "those who persevered"—early believers in cryptocurrency.
Over the past few challenging years, early believers have constantly heard that "cryptocurrency is a scam, a bubble, or a dead end." They experienced the industry crash of 2022, the regulatory repression of the "Gensler era," and the industry stagnation of 2024. But in 2025, their perseverance was finally proven.
(The Gensler era: refers to the period when Gary Gensler served as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
This year's significance lies not only in the "rise in asset prices," but also in the "verification that the core viewpoints were correct."
As a result, these early believers successfully "outpaced the world's most renowned institutions": when BlackRock, Vanguard, and sovereign wealth funds entered the cryptocurrency market this year, the assets they purchased were the same assets that these early believers held with unwavering conviction when the industry's prospects were at their lowest.
2026 Outlook: From Investor to "Eco-banker"
As this group achieves "intergenerational wealth accumulation," they haven't left the crypto ecosystem; instead, they are becoming the ecosystem's "bankers." This group is expected to become a major liquidity provider (LP) in the new decentralized capital markets, funding the next wave of innovations that banks have yet to fully grasp.
