Tiger Research: Ten Major Shifts in the Cryptocurrency Market by 2026

marsbitPublicado a 2025-12-29Actualizado a 2025-12-29

Resumen

Tiger Research outlines ten major shifts expected in the cryptocurrency market by 2026. As the industry matures, institutional capital will remain concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum, avoiding unproven assets. Projects without real revenue generation will face淘汰, while unsustainable tokenomics will give way to models emphasizing buybacks and burns. Increased M&A activity will drive market consolidation. Emerging trends include the fusion of robotics and crypto-enabled gig economies for decentralized data collection, and media companies adopting prediction markets to boost engagement. Traditional finance will dominate real-world assets (RWA) via private chains, while ETH staking ETFs will accelerate growth in Bitcoin-based financial products (BTCFi). Fintech apps will surpass exchanges as primary entry points for new users. Finally, privacy technology will become essential institutional infrastructure to protect large-scale trading strategies.

This report is authored by Tiger Research. The cryptocurrency industry is entering the mainstream. Institutions have become key players in the market. Capital is flowing to projects that generate real yield. Short-term price fluctuations are no longer important. Sustainable business models have become crucial. Tiger Research predicts ten major shifts in the cryptocurrency market by 2026.

1. Institutional Capital Continues to Stay in Bitcoin

Source: Tiger Research

As institutions dominate the market, capital flows have become more cautious. These investors avoid unverified assets, limiting their scope to Bitcoin and Ethereum. This trend is likely to continue. Market growth will be concentrated only on assets that meet institutional standards.

2. Profitless Projects Face Market Elimination

Source: Tiger Research

85% of new tokens decline in price after TGE, exposing the limitations of narrative-driven growth. Hype-based projects will be replaced by new trends at an increasingly rapid pace. The market will shift towards projects that generate real yield and demonstrate robust fundamentals.

3. Utility Has Failed, Buybacks Are the Only Answer

Source: Tiger Research

Tokenomics focused on utility have failed. Governance voting rights have failed to attract investors. Complex structures are unsustainable. The market now demands clear value returns. Models that provide direct returns through buybacks and burns will survive. Structures where protocol growth directly impacts token price will also survive. New innovative models will emerge from this shift.

4. Increased M&A Opportunities Between Projects

Source: Tiger Research

Web3 is maturing. Competition for market dominance is intensifying. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are now the fastest way for companies to scale and enhance competitiveness. The winners will drive aggressive M&A activity. The market will be reshaped by businesspeople who create real profits.

5. Robotics and Cryptocurrency Will Usher in a New Era of the Gig Economy

Source: figure.ai

The robotics industry is growing. Real-world data for robot training has become crucial. Traditional centralized methods cannot efficiently collect massive amounts of data. Blockchain-based decentralized crowdsourcing solves this problem. It collects vast amounts of data from individuals globally and provides transparent, instant rewards. A new gig economy centered around robotics will emerge.

6. Media Companies Adopt Prediction Markets

Source: Tiger Research

As traditional revenue models reach their limits, media companies will adopt prediction markets as a survival strategy. Readers will shift from passive consumption to active participation, placing capital bets on news outcomes. This shift will optimize revenue structures while driving deeper audience engagement.

7. Traditional Finance Dominates RWA Through Self-Built Chains

Source: Tiger Research

Traditional financial institutions are the main suppliers in the RWA market. Given the need for asset control and security, the benefits of using third-party platforms are minimal. These companies are likely to build their own chains to maintain market leadership. RWA projects lacking independent asset supplies will lose their competitive advantage and face elimination.

8. ETH Staking ETFs Will Drive BTCFi Growth

Source: Tiger Research

The launch of Ethereum staking ETFs will prompt Bitcoin ETF holders to seek yield. BTCFi fills this gap. As large amounts of capital enter Bitcoin, the demand for asset utility will rise. This pursuit of yield will drive the next wave of BTCFi growth.

9. Fintech Will Surpass Exchanges as the Primary On-Ramp

Source: Tiger Research

As rules become clearer, fintech applications have become the preferred choice for cryptocurrency trading. New users no longer need to use cryptocurrency exchanges. They can buy and sell directly within the applications they use daily. The next wave of growth will be led by these fintech tools.

10. Privacy Technology Becomes Core Institutional Infrastructure

Source: Tiger Research

On-chain transparency exposes trading plans. This is a weakness for large institutions. High-net-worth participants must hide their movements to ensure security. Privacy technology is a key tool for these institutions to enter the market. Large-scale capital will only flow in if transaction data is secure.

Preguntas relacionadas

QWhat are the two main cryptocurrencies that institutional investors are predicted to continue focusing on by 2026, according to Tiger Research?

AInstitutional investors are predicted to continue focusing primarily on Bitcoin and Ethereum, as they are considered established and meet institutional standards.

QWhy does Tiger Research claim that utility-focused tokenomics has failed, and what model is expected to survive?

AUtility-focused tokenomics has failed because governance voting rights failed to attract investors and complex structures proved unsustainable. The model expected to survive is one that provides direct returns through buybacks and burns, or structures where protocol growth directly impacts the token price.

QHow is the convergence of robotics and cryptocurrency predicted to create a new gig economy era?

AThe convergence is predicted to create a new gig economy era by using blockchain-based decentralized crowdsourcing to efficiently collect the massive amounts of real-world data needed for robot training from individuals globally, offering transparent and instant rewards.

QWhat role are financial technology (fintech) applications expected to play in the future of cryptocurrency onboarding?

AFintech applications are expected to become the primary onboarding channel for new users, surpassing exchanges. Users will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrency directly within the everyday applications they already use.

QWhy is privacy technology considered crucial for large institutional adoption of cryptocurrency?

APrivacy technology is considered crucial because on-chain transparency exposes the trading plans of large institutions, which is a significant weakness. High-net-worth participants must hide their movements for security, making privacy tech a key tool for their market entry. Large-scale capital will only flow in if transaction data is secure.

Lecturas Relacionadas

Silicon Valley Wang Chuan: How Can You Not Feel Anxious When the Neighbor Lao Wang Earned 30x by Investing in Storage Stocks?

The author explores anxiety, attributing it to the amygdala's stress response, and suggests writing down worries to shift control to the rational prefrontal cortex, easing anxiety more effectively than mere reassurance. The piece then examines a source of financial anxiety in May 2026: a 150% surge in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, with storage stock SNDK skyrocketing 38x. The author analyzes the underlying logic behind this boom, tracing it to soaring valuations of AI startups like Anthropic (Anth). Anth's reported $400 billion ARR is scrutinized, revealing that cumulative revenue since founding is only about $108 billion, with the company still losing billions monthly and relying on continuous funding (having raised $723 billion). The author contrasts Anth's $1+ trillion valuation speculation with Berkshire Hathaway's fundamentals ($3.7 trillion revenue, $669 billion profit, $4 trillion cash, $1 trillion market cap), questioning the belief that a loss-making, funding-dependent startup could be worth more than the established giant. The narrative concludes by linking the massive valuations of Anth and OpenAI to a surge in AI industry capital expenditure (capex), which in turn fueled the storage sector's prosperity, setting the stage for a further discussion.

marsbitHace 1 min(s)

Silicon Valley Wang Chuan: How Can You Not Feel Anxious When the Neighbor Lao Wang Earned 30x by Investing in Storage Stocks?

marsbitHace 1 min(s)

The King of Blind Date Attire in Korea: How SK Hynix Made a Comeback Against Samsung?

In South Korea's dating scene, SK Hynix employees are now highly sought after, a status shift fueled by the company's astronomical profits and employee bonuses, projected to reach up to 6.1 million RMB per person by 2027. This marks a dramatic reversal for the long-time second-place player in memory semiconductors, which has now surpassed its rival Samsung in annual operating profit. The turnaround story began in 2008 when a struggling Hynix, emerging from bankruptcy restructuring, took a risky bet by agreeing to develop High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) with AMD. At the time, HBM had no clear market beyond high-end graphics cards and was a costly, complex technology. Major players like Samsung, pursuing its own HMC technology, declined. For Hynix, with only memory as its core business, it was a gamble born of necessity. The pivotal moment came in 2012 when SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won acquired Hynix. Defying industry downturns, he invested heavily in R&D and fabrication, sustaining the HBM project through over a decade of commercial uncertainty and internal challenges. A key break occurred around 2016-2017 when Samsung faced production issues supplying HBM2 for Google's TPU, allowing SK Hynix to gain a crucial foothold in the data center market. The AI explosion post-ChatGPT in 2022 was the catalyst, turning HBM into a critical bottleneck for AI accelerators like NVIDIA's GPUs. By 2025, SK Hynix captured 62% of the global HBM market, leaving Samsung at 17%. For the first time, its annual operating profit exceeded Samsung's. Analysts point to the "innovator's dilemma" to explain Samsung's miss: its vast, successful business portfolio made it risk-averse, preventing an all-in bet on the initially niche HBM technology. In contrast, SK Hynix, as a challenger with its back against the wall, had no choice but to commit fully. The story highlights how Korea's chaebol system allows for ultra-long-term bets beyond quarterly pressures. However, SK Hynix's lead isn't guaranteed. Samsung is aggressively catching up on HBM4, and challenges like customer concentration (heavy reliance on NVIDIA) and technical hurdles in advanced packaging remain. The narrative underscores a market truth: the greatest alpha often comes from betting on uncertain, long-term directions others dismiss, much like HBM in 2008.

marsbitHace 15 min(s)

The King of Blind Date Attire in Korea: How SK Hynix Made a Comeback Against Samsung?

marsbitHace 15 min(s)

US Stock Storage Fever Spreads to Crypto for the Third Time, VVV Leads 'AI Data Infrastructure' Sector Gains

U.S. stock storage rally spreads to crypto for the third time, with VVV leading the 'AI data infrastructure' sector. On May 11, Venice Token (VVV) surged 17.63% with $65.05M volume, followed by Chainbase, SQD, and Vana, rising 5-8%. This mirrors gains in U.S. storage stocks like SanDisk and Micron. The crypto AI narrative is shifting. The initial wave (May 6-7) saw pure storage tokens like FIL, AR, and STORJ rise, driven by spillover from the U.S. storage chip boom. The second wave saw broader DePIN sector gains. The current third wave has moved beyond pure storage to broader "AI infrastructure." VVV, a decentralized AI inference platform, leads due to its own catalysts like a token burn mechanism and partnership news, alongside the broader market trend. Notably, traditional storage tokens showed minimal gains (<4%) on May 11, indicating the rally is becoming more selective, focusing on projects with specific narratives like AI data or compute. The pattern suggests the sector rally may be in a later stage, with sustainability depending on whether the U.S. storage chip boom continues.

marsbitHace 25 min(s)

US Stock Storage Fever Spreads to Crypto for the Third Time, VVV Leads 'AI Data Infrastructure' Sector Gains

marsbitHace 25 min(s)

Understanding Hash in One Article: The "Browser Miner" on Ethereum

Hash is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token described as a "browser-minable post-quantum token." Its key features include enabling browser-based GPU mining without specialized hardware, a fixed supply cap of 21 million tokens, immutable and permissionless smart contracts with no team allocation or pre-mining, and an emphasis on post-quantum security using Keccak256 hashing. The mining mechanism is a simplified on-chain proof-of-work where miners solve unique challenges tied to their wallet address. Key design elements prevent answer theft, with epochs resetting every 100 blocks (~20 minutes) and a per-block minting limit. Emission follows a Bitcoin-like halving schedule every 100,000 mints, starting at 100 tokens per mint. Projections suggest all tokens could be mined within approximately 294 days if a target rate of one mint per minute is sustained. Hash emphasizes "post-quantum" security by leveraging hash-based primitives like Keccak256, which are considered more resistant to quantum attacks compared to elliptic-curve cryptography. While not a fully post-quantum asset, it aligns with Ethereum's broader post-quantum research narrative. The project completed its Genesis sale at $0.03 and began trading on Uniswap, with its price reaching around $0.19. The initial circulating supply is small, with 5% sold in Genesis and 5% allocated to liquidity. The majority (47.6% of total supply) is allocated to early-stage mining, leading to a front-loaded emission schedule. This structure, combined with low initial liquidity, makes Hash a high-volatility, high-risk project dependent on sustained miner participation and market demand to absorb new supply.

marsbitHace 28 min(s)

Understanding Hash in One Article: The "Browser Miner" on Ethereum

marsbitHace 28 min(s)

OpenAI's Largest Internal Wealth Creation: 600 People Cash Out a Total of $6.6 Billion, 75 Take Home the Maximum $30 Million Each

A Wall Street Journal report reveals OpenAI's unprecedented pre-IPO wealth creation. In a single employee stock sale last October, over 600 current and former employees sold shares, collectively cashing out approximately $6.6 billion. Due to high investor demand, the company tripled the individual sale cap to $30 million, with about 75 employees selling the maximum amount. This event represents the largest such transaction in tech industry history for a private company. OpenAI's valuation was $500 billion for this tender offer. Employees with over two years of tenure were eligible, allowing many post-ChatGPT hires their first liquidity event. The company's stock has reportedly grown over 100-fold in seven years. Following a restructuring, employees collectively hold about 26% of OpenAI. The scale of executive wealth is also staggering. In court testimony related to Elon Musk's lawsuit, President and co-founder Greg Brockman confirmed his OpenAI stake is worth around $30 billion. Analysis indicates about 165 current and former employees hold a combined ~$164.9 billion in equity, averaging nearly $1 billion per person in paper wealth. OpenAI's per-employee stock-based compensation is estimated to be 34 times the average of major tech firms before their IPOs. OpenAI continues its rapid ascent, closing a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation in March. With monthly revenue hitting $2 billion, over 900 million weekly ChatGPT users, and plans for a potential trillion-dollar IPO in late 2026, this wealth-creation engine shows no signs of stopping.

链捕手Hace 51 min(s)

OpenAI's Largest Internal Wealth Creation: 600 People Cash Out a Total of $6.6 Billion, 75 Take Home the Maximum $30 Million Each

链捕手Hace 51 min(s)

Trading

Spot

Futuros