Pantera Partners' predictions for the top nine cryptocurrencies in 2026: RWA will experience rapid

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In this era where funds and narratives are moving forward simultaneously, Pantera’s predictions for the nine major cryptocurrencies in 2026 are becoming important trends from an institutional perspective. The key signals include the accelerated implementation of RWA (Real World Assets on the Chain), as well as comprehensive expansion by institutions in areas such as trading, custody, and on-chain settlement. As assets like US Treasury bonds, funds, and equity tokensize, coupled with the maturation of regulatory infrastructure, Pantera believes that the cryptocurrency market is entering a new phase characterized by greater financialization and institutionalization.

Looking back at the predictions for 2025

#1: RWA growth

Prediction: By the end of the year, real world assets (RWA), excluding stablecoins, will account for 30% of the total on-chain collateral value (TVL).

Rating: 3/5

When I made this prediction, RWA accounted for 15% of the on-chain TVL, valued at $13.7 billion. As of December 15, 2025, with TVL in DeFi reaching $118 billion, RWA accounted for approximately 16% of TVL, amounting to $16.6 billion. Therefore, although the RWA sector has expanded, its share of on-chain TVL remains relatively stable. The main categories include:

● Tokenized collectibles: $8.7 billion

● Tokenized goods: $3.2 billion

● Tokenized private credit: $2.4 billion

● Tokenized institutional funds: $2.4 billion

#2 Bitcoin-Fi

Prediction: 1% of Bitcoin will be used in Bitcoin-Fi.

Rating: 4/5

In this situation, I actually underestimated the proportion of participants involved. As of December 13th, Bitcoin-Fi accounted for 1.4% of the total supply of 19 million bitcoins. The early-stage speculative trading market for bitcoins currently values at $2.5 billion. Relevant projects include Babylon, Lombard, Arch Network, and Mezo. Another application scenario is lending. Ledn, Unchained, and Coinbase are expected to generate over $1 billion in bitcoin loans by 2025. Key developments include Babylon’s partnership with Aave, the tBTC credit market, and the Stacks ecosystem supported by ALEX Lab, Zest Protocol, and other applications. #3 Fintech companies will become increasingly common as cryptocurrency portals

. Prediction: Fintech companies will become more widespread and may even compete with smaller, centralized exchanges in terms of cryptocurrency holdings.

Rating: 5/5

In 2025, fintech companies will first compete with smaller, centralized exchanges, and then surpass them. According to company reports, Robinhood’s market value has reached $51 billion, surpassing that of medium-sized centralized exchanges. Bitfinex, on the other hand, has a market value of only $20.7 billion, making it relatively smaller. This shift reflects the structural advantages of fintech companies in terms of user acquisition, regulatory positioning, and comprehensive financial services.

#4 Unichain will dominate as the leading L2 blockchain.
Rating: 2/5
In December, Unichain ranked sixth among L2 projects, with a total financing amount of $260.14 million. Behind Unichain were the following projects:
● Arbitrum One, valued at $17.29 billion
● Base Chain, valued at $12.11 billion
● OP Mainnet, valued at $2.24 billion
● Starknet, valued at $752.57 million
● Ink, valued at $396.63 million

#5 NFT applications in specific fields are seeing growth

Predictions: Flexibility is one of the strengths of NFTs. Their applications will continue to expand.

Score: 2/5

By 2025, the number of NFT applications will increase across various fields. However, the widespread adoption of NFTs still faces challenges. Initially, NFTs were used mainly for speculative purposes related to artworks. Today, their practical applications include:

● Games (with a market size of $540 billion), such as “Dyplans World”, “Pixels”, and “Seraph”.

● Ticket markets (with a market size of $1.1 billion), such as OPEN Ticketing Ecosystem, GUTS Tickets, and SeatlabNFT.

● Tokenization of real assets, such as Propy, RealT, and Lofty.

● Decentralized identity systems like Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Lens protocol, and Galxe

In the third quarter, the number of active wallets reached 2.1 million, indicating a significant increase in user engagement. On average, traders owned 8.4 NFTs per wallet, compared to 4.2 in the first quarter.

#6 New staking protocols have been introduced

Predictions: Re-pledge protocols such as Eigenlayer, Symbiotic, and Karak will eventually launch their tokens. These tokens will be used to pay operators for AVS and confiscated revenues.

Rating: 3/5

It is expected that re-pledge mechanisms won’t be widely adopted as anticipated. Instead, we see several important re-pledge protocols expanding into related business areas.

EigenLayer/EigenCloud activated its penalty mechanism on April 17, 2025, and it has since been fully operational. In the autumn of the same year, they also launched EigenAI and EigenCompute on the mainnet, expanding their services to the field of artificial intelligence and computing workloads, no longer limited to infrastructure-related services. However, Symbiotic’s services have expanded into the insurance sector. Most re-pledge protocols, due to declining TVL, have not yet launched their products.

#7 zkTLS trends

Prediction: zkTLS will bring off-chain data onto the chain, providing new applications for data verification in DeFi, fintech, and various industries and use cases.

Rating: 5/5

zkTLS already has several practical implementations, including the following products:

● TransCrypts was launched in 2024, designed for revenue tracking and identity verification.

● Accountable was launched in May 2025, designed to verify financial data between counterparties.

● Earnifi was launched in 2025, designed to improve EWA underwriting processes.

● DaisyApp was launched in 2025, designed to enable verifiable influencer marketing and attribution analysis.

● 3Jane目前处于内部测试阶段，旨在用于资产和身份验证，以承保无担保贷款。

● EarnOS旨在用于验证用户获取和归因。

我们看到zkTLS正在验证领域得到应用。

#8 营造有利的监管环境

预测：我们将看到美国证券交易委员会(SEC)的诉讼逐渐减少，加密货币作为一种特定资产类别得到明确定义，以及税务方面的考量。

评分：5/5

这一预测分为三个部分，其准确度如下。

首先，SEC在2025年陆续结束了多起重大诉讼，其中包括针对Ripple、Binance、Coinbase、Kraken等公司的诉讼。除Ripple外，其他所有诉讼均以无罚款结案，Ripple最终被罚款1.25亿美元。

2025年监管方面取得了显著进展，但并未对加密货币作为一种特定资产类别做出明确定义。《数字资产市场清晰法案》已于7月在众议院获得通过，目前正由参议院审议。该法案将赋予美国商品期货交易委员会(CFTC)对去中心化代币的管辖权，以及赋予SEC对中心化/投资型代币的管辖权。与此同时，SEC于11月发布了一份初步的、不具约束力的代币分类标准。

预测的第三部分，明确的税收指导，虽然接近实现但最终未能如愿。尽管数字资产的基本定义已明确其属于财产，需遵守资本利得税和普通收入规则，但在DeFi经纪商报告和非托管交易等领域仍存在一些模糊之处。取得进展的领域包括：今年已生效的强制性经纪商报告分阶段实施;11月为公开交易的信托/ETF设立的质押安全港;以及在《GENIUS法案》颁布后持续推进的稳定币监管发展。

此外，2025年美国政府任命了一位加密货币专员，创建了比特币战略储备，成立了数字资产工作组，并选出了一位拥抱创新的SEC主席。

2026年加密行业九大预测

#1 现实世界资产(RWA)腾飞

截至2025年12月15日，在1180亿美元的DeFi总锁定价值(TVL)中，RWA资产的规模达到了约14%，即166亿美元。

预测：

● 国债和私人信贷至少可能会翻一番。

● 当SEC的“Project Crypto”计划下的“创新豁免”预期推出时，代币化股票和股权的增长速度可能会更快。

● 某个意想不到的领域(例如碳信用、矿产开采权或能源项目)将会迅速崛起。该领域可能具有流动性分散、全球分布不均和缺乏标准等特点，而基于区块链的市场将有助于解决这些问题。

#2 Artificial Intelligence Transforms On-chain Security

AI-based security solutions and blockchain development tools are becoming increasingly powerful. Real-time fraud detection, Bitcoin transaction identification with accuracy rates reaching 95%, and instant smart contract debugging capabilities have been developed, enabling the identification of millions of vulnerabilities in the blockchain.

It is predicted that by 2026, on-chain intelligence will undergo significant changes. Certainty and verifiable rules will replace governance methods based on smart contracts. At that time, applications will be able to scan code nearly in real time, immediately identify logical flaws and attacks, and provide immediate debugging feedback. The next unicorn company will be an innovative on-chain security firm, capable of enhancing security levels by hundreds of times.

#3 Prediction Markets Become Targets for Acquisitions

In the first ten months of 2025, the market value of prediction market transactions reached $28 billion. This field is undergoing integration around institutional infrastructure. On October 20th, prediction markets recorded a record high transaction volume of $2.3 billion.

It is expected that there will be more than ten billion dollars in acquisitions within this sector, but these acquisitions will not involve Polymarket or Kalshi. Successful platforms will create underlying liquidity mechanisms, incorporating market discovery algorithms that can identify hidden locations of funds and their reasons. Without fancy new buttons, the key lies in easily granting users superpowers: immediate access to hidden fund pools, more intelligent routing, and predictive order flow management.

Platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel, which focus on sports events, have become mainstream. These platforms work with media outlets to provide real-time odds. Emerging platforms that specialize in sports, such as NoVig, will expand their services vertically. Additionally, more startups will emerge in the Asia-Pacific region, making it an attractive area for investment.

#4 Artificial intelligence is becoming your personal cryptocurrency assistant

As systems become more sophisticated, the use of artificial intelligence-based platforms among consumers will increase significantly, allowing for personalized experiences. Seamless integration makes using advanced AI easier and faster, transforming user experiences from awkward to instant response.

It is predicted that by 2026, platforms like Surf.ai will attract a wide range of users, from those interested in cryptocurrencies to active traders, thanks to their intuitive AI models, proprietary encrypted data sets, and multi-step workflow tools. I believe that with its advanced technology and user-friendly design, Surf will become the preferred tool for cryptocurrency research, offering real-time market insights based on blockchain data, four times faster than other similar platforms.

#5 Banking giants are ready to launch stablecoins linked to G7 currencies

Ten major banks are in the early stages of exploring the issuance of stablecoins linked to the currencies of the G7 countries. These financial institutions are evaluating whether stablecoins can provide benefits of digital currencies to individuals and institutions in a compliant and risk-management-oriented manner. Meanwhile, ten European banks are also researching the issuance of stablecoins linked to the euro.

Predictions: An alliance of major banks will issue their own stablecoins, regardless of whether these pilot projects are implemented by 2026 or by other alliances.

#6 Privacy, payments, and perpetual contracts: Key elements for institutions

Privacy technologies are thriving in the institutional sector. Protocols like Zama and Canton balance transparency and confidentiality, but retail investors still receive insufficient attention, and their market presence has not yet expanded significantly. The market value of stablecoins currently stands at $310 billion, having doubled since 2023, and has been growing for 25 consecutive months. Perpetual contracts account for approximately 78% of cryptocurrency derivatives transactions, and the gap between perpetual contracts and spot options continues to widen.

Predictions: In terms of privacy, the gap between institutions and retail investors is expected to widen further by 2026. The market value of stablecoins is expected to exceed $2 trillion in the long term, reaching at least $500 billion next year. The development of perpetual contracts will continue to grow in 2026.

#7 Institutional perspectives from a macro perspective

As of December 15th, 17.867% of Bitcoin is now held by listed companies, private enterprises, ETFs, and governments worldwide.

Predictions: 2026 will no longer be an era of speculation or online memes. Instead, it will be an era of integration, true compliance, and institutional capital inflows driven by liquidity in the open market. Cryptocurrencies will integrate into mainstream platforms, enhance the financial system, and challenge existing industry giants.

#8 The year with the largest-ever cryptocurrency IPO in history

2025年美国IPO总数已达335次，比2024年增长55%;其中许多都与加密货币相关，包括9家区块链IPO。这其中包括像Circle这样的加密货币原生公司，以及像SPAC(特殊目的收购)这样包含加密货币成分的公司;例如，Bitcoin Infrastructure Acquisition Corp于2025年12月2日上市。

预测：2026年将是数字资产公开上市规模更大的一年。Coinbase表示，76%的公司计划在2026年增加代币化资产，其中一些公司甚至计划将其投资组合的5%以上用于代币化资产。Morpho协议就是一个典型的例子，其总锁定价值(TVL)在2025年11月达到了86亿美元。