In November, Infinex and Synthetix founder Kain Warwick wagered at 10:1 odds with Kyle Samani that Ether would reach $25,000 by the end of 2025, leaving him owing $50,000 after the target was missed. Ether instead finished Dec. 31 at about $2,980 after an October downturn, and Warwick has now revised his 2026 goal to a more modest $10,000, while other analysts had also floated year-end targets around $10,000.

On Friday, a widely tracked Crypto Fear & Greed Index climbed from "extreme fear" to a "fear" reading of 29, marking its highest level since Dec. 12 while Bitcoin remained below $90,000 at around $88,995. Some market commentators argue that the index's roughly eight-week stay in fearful territory suggests a potentially favorable risk-reward setup, even as analytics firms describe sentiment heading into 2026 as marked by mixed emotions.

Crypto service providers in 48 participating jurisdictions are required from Jan. 1 to begin collecting detailed transaction data ahead of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework's rollout. The OECD framework will see the first batch of countries record transactions in 2026 for information exchange in 2027, while a second group has until Jan. 1, 2027, to start gathering data.

On Tuesday, Clear Street's Owen Lau told CNBC that the pace of Federal Reserve cuts in 2026 may be a major driver for retail re-entering crypto. Fed December minutes released Tuesday signaled flexibility on policy, while Polymarket puts the odds of a January cut at 15% and March at 52%.

On Friday and Saturday, several analysts argued that Bitcoin does not need a correction in gold or silver prices before resuming its rise, despite gold and silver reaching record highs. Lyn Alden attributed the recent strength of the Bitcoin-to-gold ratio to Bitcoin's prior year of stagnation versus a strong year for gold, while market data shows gold up about 60% this year and Bitcoin down 7.2%. Some industry executives expect Bitcoin's current downtrend, including a near 30% drop since its October all-time high, to reverse in 2026.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan told CNBC that Bitcoin is likely to deliver strong but not extraordinary returns with lower volatility over the next 10 years, while he still expects 2026 to be a positive year. He attributed Bitcoin's year-end pullback and roughly 30% decline from its October all-time high of about $125,000 partly to a fast-moving retail crowd taking profits, while slow institutional accumulation may be cushioning deeper drawdowns.

Analysts expect XRP’s price to mostly move sideways heading into 2026, with a more favorable setup only in the latter half of the year. At the time of publication, XRP traded at $1.84, down 14.63% since Jan. 1, while experts highlighted potential spot ETF approvals and deeper integration with global payment systems as key upside drivers.

Jan3 founder Samson Mow said on Friday that 2025 was a bear market for Bitcoin and that a decade‑long bull run could follow. Bitcoin is down 8.98% year‑to‑date at $87,210, after an October all‑time high of $125,100, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 20 on Dec. 26 as views diverge on 2026.

Sharplink co-CEO Joseph Chalom forecasts that Ethereum's total value locked could grow tenfold in 2026, supported by rapid expansion in stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets and sovereign wealth fund allocations. He expects the stablecoin market to reach $500 billion by the end of next year and tokenized RWAs to hit $300 billion in 2026, which he believes will funnel more value onto the Ethereum network.