Crypto Market 2026 Predictions: Which Coins Will 10x and Which Will Crash?
Chris MacDonald
Thu, December 11, 2025 at 1:47 PM EST
8 min read
In this article:
Quick Read
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JPMorgan forecasts Bitcoin could reach $170,000 by 2026, with $94,000 as the production-cost floor. The bank’s prediction relies on Bitcoin’s volatility ratio narrowing relative to gold’s $28.3 trillion market cap.
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Ethereum plans to scale Layer 1 throughput by 10 times by 2026 through gas limit increases and network upgrades. Vitalik Buterin announced the roadmap at ETHGlobal Prague, targeting faster, cheaper transactions.
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Solana ETFs attracted $476 million in net inflows over 19 consecutive days, defying broader market weakness and signaling strong institutional confidence despite a 26.5% price decline in Q4 2025.
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A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.
Investor interest in crypto heading into 2026 is heating up, and Wall Street giants are eyeing significant gains. JPMorgan analysts, for example, have called $94,000 a bottom for Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and forecast the asset could reach about $170,000 in 2026. Vitalik Buterin likewise laid out a roadmap to make Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) layer-1 network handle 10 times more traffic within a year.
Many tokens driven purely by hype or weak fundamentals may tumble. Meme coins and similar pump-and-dump tokens plunged 50–80% in 2025 when market sentiment turned. Here's how the market is likely to split between winners and losers.
Bullish Contenders: Top Cryptocurrencies to 10x in 2026
Next year could deliver outsized gains for coins with real utility while punishing those that rely solely on hype. Here are some coins analysts expect to see strong gains in 2026 and why.
Ethereum & Bitcoin
Ethereum is widely viewed as a core holding with serious upside when upcoming upgrades deliver. Standard Chartered analysts forecast a bullish 2026 target of $12,000 for ETH, assuming the Fusaka and Pectra upgrades enable faster, cheaper transactions.
Vitalik Buterin's own plan to boost Ethereum's layer-1 throughput by 10 times by 2026 reflects this optimism. With Ethereum's built-in fee-burning mechanism, these factors underlie the bull case for ETH. Although Layer-2 rollups that siphon off too much value and drive fees sharply lower could create struggles—a bearish scenario sees ETH trading around $2,500–$3,000.
Ethereum's growth is often compared to Bitcoin's. For Bitcoin, JPMorgan's team argues that the volatility gap with gold has narrowed enough that Bitcoin could rise by 60–70% to challenge gold's $28.3 trillion valuation. That would put Bitcoin near $170,000 by 2026. Such a move is significant but amounts to roughly doubling from BTC's recent $90K trading level.
Story Continues
Bitcoin remains a steady store-of-value play. Souring macro sentiment, such as from rising interest rates, could cause even Bitcoin to languish. For now, though, many experts remain bullish.
Solana
Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) is another top pick for 2026, prized for its high throughput and low fees. Coming off a record year, Solana's on-chain revenue leapt 186% year-over-year in 2025 as developers and users flocked back after the 2022 crash.
Institutional interest has also grown. Solana launched ETFs in late 2025 that attracted about $476 million in inflows over 19 consecutive days. These flows suggest big investors see better upside in SOL than in the more mature Bitcoin or Ethereum. Solana has more upgrades on the way. Its planned Firedancer validator engine is designed to further boost throughput in 2026. Smooth execution could drive a strong rally.
In a bullish scenario, Solana could reach roughly $280–$340 by late 2026. For reference, SOL traded around $140 in late 2025. Even a more moderate outcome would keep Solana well above its current price. Solana and similar high-speed chains are often cited as favorites to outperform when real-world growth in retail apps, DeFi, and gaming continues.
XRP
After years under SEC scrutiny, XRP's (CRYPTO: XRP) outlook brightened with regulatory clarity and new political leadership in the U.S. The token's price jumped from about $0.50 to $2.15 over the past year, marking a 330% gain.
Advocates argue this surge was driven by Ripple's concrete use case in cross-border remittances. Ripple's network now has 300-plus banking and fintech partners across 45 countries, funneling roughly $15 billion in annual payments. Several XRP-based ETFs outside the U.S. have accumulated over $1.1 billion, reflecting growing trust.
Analysts caution that much of XRP's price action remains sentiment-driven. The future hinges on continued adoption of Ripple's rails and more ETF or on-ramp availability. Translating on-chain activity into broader use could unlock substantial gains, while stagnation could limit upside.
Oracles, DeFi & Infrastructure Tokens
Beyond the big players, a few infrastructure and niche tokens are often mentioned for outsized upside. Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) is a prime example. Chainlink underpins DeFi and any move toward on-chain tokenization of assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate.
A recent event underlines its appeal: Grayscale's first-ever Chainlink ETF attracted $41 million in net inflows on day one of trading, even as the broader market was flat. This suggests institutional money sees LINK as fundamental infrastructure. Bank analysts have said that crypto's evolution into mainstream finance would make Chainlink the API that connects it all. Such comments highlight the strong institutional narrative around oracles and tokenization.
Other smaller or emerging sectors are also on the radar. Many crypto strategists point to Layer-2 tokens like Arbitrum's ARB and Optimism's OP, and new blockchains designed for specific markets such as gaming, IoT, or AI services.
These assets could see significant moves when their ecosystems take off. Some venture-backed chains, such as Aptos and Celestia, aim to scale to new workloads. Others tie into the AI crypto hype through on-chain machine learning models—these are riskier and speculative, but genuine delivery could drive outperformance.
Coins at Risk of Underperforming or Crashing
Several categories of tokens face bleak outlooks in 2026. Analysts see these struggling.
Meme Coins: DOGE, SHIB, PEPE
Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and other meme coins surged during the speculative frenzy of 2021-22 but have since lost steam. Research shows that meme coin portfolios fell 50–80% in 2025 as retail enthusiasm waned. Little intrinsic utility, high supply inflation, and increased regulatory scrutiny combine to create dim prospects. A new celebrity-led wave of hype could change the trajectory, but meme coins are more likely to stagnate or crash than deliver sustainable returns.
Cardano and Low-Activity Networks
Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA)—once touted as an Ethereum killer—has been criticized for its low developer activity and limited DeFi ecosystem. Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik predicted that ADA will drop out of the top-20 cryptocurrencies by 2026, calling it a ghost chain due to its low active-user base.
Other low-utilization networks could meet similar fates when they fail to attract builders and users. Investors should watch on-chain metrics like total value locked, transaction counts, and developer commits to gauge whether a layer-1 chain has staying power. Real economic activity drives token value, and chains lacking this foundation may gradually bleed lower.
High-Inflation and Regulatory-Risk Tokens
Projects with runaway token issuance or regulatory red flags may also disappoint. For instance, unbacked algorithmic stablecoins and high-inflation tokens risk being shut down or shunned by exchanges.
Privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash (CRYPTO: ZEC) face increasing compliance hurdles. Clear regulatory pathways remain elusive, and major platforms could delist these tokens. Similarly, some newer AI or metaverse coins may be overhyped and underdeliver on technology, leading to sharp corrections when adoption fails to materialize.
What to Expect in 2026
The crypto market in 2026 will reward careful selection. Coins with strong fundamentals, developer ecosystems, and real-world demand, such as BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and infrastructure tokens, are primed to explode.
Meme coins and low-utility chains could face steep declines or irrelevance. With $732 billion in fresh Bitcoin capital signaling a maturing broader crypto market, the coming years should offer opportunities for both conservative and risk-seeking investors. By focusing on adoption metrics, regulatory clarity, and macro trends, investors can navigate the next cycle more effectively.
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