10 Crypto Predictions for 2026: $1M BTC, Wall Street Onchain & ETF Takeover | Matt Hougan & Ryan Rasmussen from Bitwise
Bitwise’s Matt Hougan and Ryan Rasmussen return with 10 big predictions for 2026.
From the case for $1M BTC (and why the classic four-year cycle may be dead) to a world where ETFs soak up more than 100% of new BTC/ETH/SOL supply.
We get into Bitcoin volatility vs. mega-cap tech, crypto equities vs. tech equities, and why Polymarket could smash past its 2024 election-era highs.
Plus: stablecoins as an “escape valve” that emerging economies may blame for currency stress, on-chain also known as “ETFs 2.0,” and how the Clarity Act could be the starter’s gun for ETH and SOL to run.
------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24
https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP | CONTINUOUS CLEARING AUCTIONS
https://bankless.cc/uniswap-cca
🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Last Year Predictions
13:12 1. Bitcoin Breaks 4-Year Cycle
16:19 2. BTC Less Volatile Than NVDA
22:09 3. ETFs Purchasing New Supply of Crypto
30:02 4. Crypto Equities Outperforming Equities
37:23 5. Prediction Markets All-Time Highs
42:50 6. Stablecons Destabilizing Currencies
48:16 7. Onchain Vaults Doubling in AUM
52:56 8. Clarity Act Triggering ETH & Sol All-Time Highs
56:40 9. Ivy League Endowments Investing in Crypto
58:49 10. 100+ Crypto ETPs Launching
1:01:14 Bitwise Announcement
1:04:08 Bonus. Bitcoin Equity Correlation Falling
1:07:29 Progress in 2025
1:10:48 Cross-Generational Wealth Transfer?
1:13:02 Closing Thoughts & Disclaimers
------
RESOURCES
Matt Hougan
https://x.com/Matt_Hougan
Ryan Rasmussen
https://x.com/RasterlyRock
Bitwise
https://bitwiseinvestments.com/
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
--------
--------
Is Privacy A Winnable Battle? | Andy Yen, Founder of Proton
AI is becoming the most powerful surveillance machine ever built and most people are feeding it their deepest secrets without realizing who can read them. Proton founder Andy Yen joins Bankless to explain how Big Tech captures your identity, why AI chat logs are a privacy disaster waiting to happen, and what a self-sovereign, user-aligned future could look like.
We explore how AI models profile you, why subscription business models don’t guarantee privacy, how Proton built Lumo without retaining user data, and why encrypted email remains the cornerstone of your digital identity. Andy also breaks down EU “chat control,” Apple’s privacy-washing, the crisis of trust in crypto, and the practical steps anyone can take today to reclaim their digital freedom.
---
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24
https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
---
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW
https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs
🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
---
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
2:18 Why Privacy Matters More Than Ever
3:24 How Screwed Are We? Andy’s 1–10 Privacy Score
5:43 Who Can Read Your AI Chats?
12:22 Worst-Case Scenarios: AI Breaches & Behavioral Profiles
15:08 AI Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
16:55 Privacy as a Digital Civil Liberty
20:26 Can Big Tech Ever Offer Real Privacy?
26:28 Why Lumo AI Can Be Private (and Big Tech Won’t Copy It)
31:08 What Lumo Runs On & How It Competes With Frontier Models
35:45 The Case for a Self-Sovereign AI
38:46 How Proton’s Foundation Model Really Works
45:47 Can Private AI Be Sustainable?
49:47 The Full Proton Privacy Stack
54:59 The Messy State of Encrypted Chat Apps
58:49 Browsers, Search, and the Dark Patterns of AI Integration
1:02:53 Are iPhones Actually Private?
1:12:42 The Fight Over Encryption: EU Chat Control & Beyond
1:26:08 “A Backdoor for the Good Guys” — Why It Can’t Work
1:29:42 Financial Privacy = Freedom
1:32:58 Crypto’s Reputation Problem
1:39:24 Practical Privacy: The One High-Leverage Step
1:45:15 Two Futures: One Dark, One Bright
---
RESOURCES
Andy Yen
https://x.com/andyyen
---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
The final Fed meeting of 2025 delivered a surprise rate cut, but the real story is how the market is reacting. In this week’s Weekly Rollup, Ryan and David unpack what the new policy shift means for crypto liquidity, why regulators across the SEC, CFTC, and OCC are suddenly embracing onchain markets, and how Tom Lee’s massive ETH accumulation is reshaping sentiment.
We also get into Ethereum’s growing momentum from ZK advancements and blob upgrades, the ZKsync Atlas rollout, Base’s bridge drama with Solana, and Farcaster’s pivot away from social. Plus, the rise of tokenization, new prediction market rails, and whether this week marks the first real cycle turn for Ethereum.
------
📣REYA | ETHEREUM FOR TRADERS
https://bankless.cc/reya
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW
https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs
🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
------
TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
5:01 Markets
https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1998424357232922883
https://www.theblock.co/post/381737/bitmine-13-2-billion-holdings-eth-treasury-expands-november-slowdown
https://x.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1998529576331522334
https://x.com/MikeIppolito_/status/1998495400869900626
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/fed-interest-rate-decision-december-2025-.html
https://x.com/jameslavish/status/1998835306800505140
https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1998407015756964343
https://x.com/JustDeauIt/status/1998905919577452765
24:52 Farcaster is pivoting to a wallet
https://farcaster.xyz/dwr/0xd29fe760
https://x.com/DefiIgnas/status/1997915182073626802
https://x.com/eth_call/status/1998406182092906534
http://x.com/nic_carter/status/1998813611997745386
https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1999134280757235767
37:11 ZK … early stage of unleashing Ethereum’s vision
https://x.com/zksync/status/1996678308214264145
https://x.com/zksync/status/1996678311997853752
https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/1996990055043223659
https://x.com/zksync/status/1998405700637356056
https://x.com/Celo/status/1998780366988128562
47:06 Did Base launch a vampire attack on Solana’s liquidity?
https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1996750308933091359
https://x.com/vibhu/status/1996698682545107247
https://x.com/0xyoussea/status/1997763313909092415
https://x.com/solana/status/1999035191323759024
52:30 Ethereum's first Blob Parameter Only (BPO) fork is now live on the network
https://x.com/i/status/1998936032314523977
https://dune.com/hildobby/blobs
56:17 Regulators are doing a complete 180
https://x.com/OndoFinance/status/1998015670278148283
https://x.com/coinbureau/status/1997128653650657338
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/08/cftc-launches-digital-assets-pilot-allowing-bitcoin-ether-usdc-as-collateral
https://x.com/joechalom/status/1998421401049710686
https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1998379541132402987
https://www.fdic.gov/news/inactive-financial-institution-letters/2023/fil23001.html
https://x.com/USComptroller/status/1998793576663187561
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/guaranteeing-fair-banking-for-all-americans/
https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2025/nr-occ-2025-123a.pdf
https://www.bankless.com/read/news/occ-calls-out-americas-largest-banks-for-politicized-and-unlawful-debanking-behaviors
https://www.theblock.co/post/381815/sen-moreno-calls-crypto-bill-talks-decently-frustrating-as-senate-races-toward-year-end-goal-posts
1:05:03 The New York Times put out an anti-stablecoin explainer piece
https://x.com/0xDeployer/status/1997754736158900440
https://x.com/nic_carter/status/1997866686439928004
1:06:50 Gemini can now offer prediction markets in the US - Stock Surges Nearly 14%
https://x.com/gemini/status/1998880024401973615
https://x.com/gondorfi/status/1998754620416344483
https://gondor.fi/
1:07:49 Meme of the Week
https://x.com/Bankless/status/1998064876892442788
1:09:36 Closing & Disclaimers
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
--------
--------
The Return of the ICO | Ryan & David
ICOs are suddenly back, but this time the projects are real, the mechanisms are better, and retail isn’t shut out. Ryan and David break down why MegaEth, Monad, Aztec, Zama, and Infinex are launching public sales all at once, how onchain auctions are fixing 2017’s mistakes, and what regulatory clarity means for U.S. participation.
They also dive into the rise of internet native capital markets on Ethereum, the shift away from airdrop farming, and why fair price discovery could be a defining theme of 2026.
------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24
https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW
https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs
🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:13 Are ICOs Back?
2:54 The Rise of Capital Formation
5:04 Learning from 2017 ICO Mania
7:19 Regulatory Challenges & Arbitrage
10:56 Recent ICOs Overview
17:01 Exploring the MegaEth Sale
26:21 Monad's Unique Approach
30:40 The Innovative Aztec ICO
45:19 Upcoming Auctions: Zama & Infinex
1:04:41 The Future of Capital Formation
1:07:46 Closing & Disclaimers
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
--------
--------
Inside Gary Gensler’s SEC: A Conversation with Former Crypto Policy Advisor Corey Frayer
What was really happening inside the SEC during the Gensler years?
Today, we sat down with Corey Frayer, former senior crypto policy advisor to SEC Chair Gary Gensler and now Director of Investor Protection at the Consumer Federation of America.
We dig into how the agency thought about securities law, DeFi, Uniswap, stablecoins, SAB 121, and why platforms like Coinbase and Kraken ended up in the crosshairs.
Corey defends the Gensler playbook while responding to the industry’s harshest criticisms, from “regulation by enforcement” to claims of a political war on crypto.
Corey Frayer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-frayer-990a6b2
------
🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE
https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-inside-gary-genslers-sec
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS
https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW
https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs
🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025
https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon
💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
4:58 Crypto Industry Misconceptions
7:59 Corey’s Role & Background
14:20 How it All Started
24:16 No Path to Register?
31:26 Technology vs Economic Activity
38:22 Protecting Investors
41:07 DeFi Regulation
44:53 Uniswap’s Wells Notice
57:00 Fake DeFi vs True DeFi
1:03:41 Google Analogy
1:08:35 The Howey Test
1:16:53 SEC: Good or Evil?
1:26:52 GENIUS Bill
1:29:10 SAB 121
1:33:01 Crypto & SEC Political Impact
1:36:02 Paul Atkin’s SEC
1:38:15 What Would Corey Change?
1:41:23 Gary’s Text Messages
1:43:10 Is ETH a Security?
1:44:39 Gary Gensler’s Radio Silence
1:47:37 Gary’s Twitter April Fools PFP
1:50:44 Closing & Disclaimers
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures