Ethereum’s latest BPO fork raises the blob limit from 15 to 21, expanding data capacity for L2s and reducing user costs while boosting scalability. Although earlier 2025 upgrades cut fee revenue by about $100 million as L2 earnings fell roughly 53%, growing network usage and TVL above $300 billion are helping support Ethereum’s fundamentals heading into 2026.

Analysts are framing 2026 as an institutional cycle for Bitcoin, with some pointing to a $150,000 year‑end target. In 2025, TradingView data showed MicroStrategy [MSTR] fell 45% and an October BTC decline triggered $20 billion in liquidations, while RWAxyz reported tokenized assets reached $18 billion, alongside pronounced institutional accumulation versus miner supply.

In early 2026, Solana gained momentum as Morgan Stanley submitted an S-1 to register the "Morgan Stanley Solana ETF Trust" with the SEC. While Bitcoin ETFs recently posted about $240 million in net outflows and Ethereum and Solana ETFs saw inflows of $115 million and $9.2 million, Solana's TVL rose roughly 9% this week versus about 6% for Ethereum. The SOL/ETH ratio has climbed around 3% from key support, reviving debate over whether institutional flows are tilting Solana's way compared with Ethereum.

As 2026 begins, Solana's SOL token sits in contrast to its network performance, having dropped 34.16% in 2025 while still leading Layer 1 rivals in transactions per second and on-chain activity. At the same time, Solana's memecoin ecosystem, anchored by BONK and major launchpads, has seen market cap and volumes climb sharply, raising the question of whether price can finally realign with fundamentals in the new cycle.

More than $657 million in altcoin unlocks are scheduled for this week, coinciding with a broader crypto rally where roughly $250 billion has entered the market since 2026 and only 40% flowed into Bitcoin. Oversold ALT/BTC, improving technical indicators, and large one-time unlocks such as Hyperliquid's nearly $330 million release could redirect liquidity toward altcoins and potentially support the next altcoin cycle.

At the start of 2026, MSTR rose 3.43%, but the company is expected to post a multi‑billion Q4 hit after a 24% BTC slide erased a $2.8 billion Q3 gain. Shares fell 48% in 2025 and sit 70% below their November 2024 peak, while analyst forecasts for the full year span a $7 billion loss to a $9.5 billion profit.

In November 2025, inflation eased to 2.7% (−0.3% MoM), and Q4 saw XAUT up 13% while BTC fell 24, with full‑year gold up nearly 65% to $4,500. According to TradingView, Bitcoin ended 2025 down 6.30. Lookonchain also highlighted wallets buying 3,102 XAUT for $13.7 million as positioning into perceived safety.

In 2025, Ethereum posted record network activity alongside a sustained 50%+ DeFi share and a 212% rise in total RWA value, even as price performance lagged. Entering 2026, Vitalik Buterin emphasized decentralization and real‑world applications while revenue pressure persisted, including a 53% L2 earnings decline and nearly $100 million in lost income. Exchange reserves fell 20% to 16.6 million, underscoring long‑term positioning over speculation.

In the 2025 cycle, Bitcoin's price closed the year down 6% even as its market dominance climbed from about 40% in 2022 to above 60% in 2025. Over the same period, altcoins excluding BTC and ETH have logged four consecutive red years versus Bitcoin, and spiking funding rates with crowded leveraged longs have left alts vulnerable to liquidations, reinforcing the view that 2021 was likely the last true altcoin season.