From 1 January 2026, HMRC is requiring crypto exchanges serving UK users to provide complete transaction records, including tax residency and profit details. From 2027, this information will be exchanged automatically with tax authorities in 47 other jurisdictions, and UK individuals with gains above £3,000 may fall under capital gains or, in some cases, income tax rules.

Coinbase's Global Head of Research David Duong expects cryptocurrencies to reach broad mainstream use by 2026, driven by ETFs, stablecoins, tokenization, and clearer rules. He points to the introduction of spot ETFs, corporate crypto treasuries, and regulatory frameworks such as the GENIUS Act and MiCA as key catalysts for institutional capital and deeper integration with global finance. Bitcoin's current market performance and dominance are cited as indicators of the asset class's growing structural role despite short-term price declines.

On January 1, 2026, Dragonfly Capital managing partner Haseeb Qureshi said the year could deliver upside and downside surprises, projecting Bitcoin above $150,000 by year-end and anticipating a decline in Bitcoin dominance. He also expects Ethereum and Solana to beat expectations as several fintech-focused chains underwhelm, while BTC, ETH and SOL were at $88,576, $2,979 and $125 at the time of writing.

On December 31, 2025, Coinbase's head of investment research David Duong posted a year-end outlook on X saying ETFs, stablecoins, and tokenization will mutually reinforce and speed crypto adoption in 2026. He highlighted progress on the U.S. GENIUS Act and Europe’s MiCA, and cited adoption data ranging from 10.3% in Q1 2023 to 9.9% in Q1 2025.

As the crypto market transitions out of the post-halving surge and deeper into institutional participation, 2026 is framed as a year where capital favors select assets over broad speculation. Projections outline distinct trading ranges for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, BNB, Dogecoin and TRON, with stablecoins expected to grow mainly through supply and settlement activity. The overarching theme is disciplined capital allocation, where performance is tied to clear demand, regulatory clarity and real-world usage.

On 1 January 2026, Binance detailed an attempted fraud in which a user allegedly forged chat logs and transfer records to pose as a scam victim and pressure the exchange's support team for compensation. Internal checks, including blockchain analysis, indicated the wallet tied to the supposed scammer was controlled by the complainant and that documents came from an escrow platform and were altered to fit the story. The case underscores how crypto scams are expanding from targeting users directly to attacking exchange trust systems, amid wider industry losses from phishing, address poisoning, and social engineering schemes.

US investors allocated $31.77 billion to crypto ETFs in 2025, led by $21.4 billion into spot Bitcoin funds and $9.6 billion into Ether products. BlackRock's IBIT attracted $24.7 billion, five times FBTC, while Solana ETFs amassed $765 million since late October. Data indicate waning demand into year's end, hinting at a slow start to 2026.

In 2025, crypto saw notable reversals: presidential pardons for Ross Ulbricht and Binance's CZ, a privacy-coin resurgence, and Ripple's lawsuit conclusion. Monero rose above $400 and Zcash surged 817% according to CoinGecko, while Ripple finalized a $50 million settlement and XRP set a new all‑time high. These shifts frame expectations for 2026 around adoption and regulation.