The year 2025 turned out to be the most important in the history of the crypto industry. After years of fighting for survival in the face of hacks and growing regulatory hostility, crypto’s fortunes are changing abruptly. The Trump administration’s embrace of crypto and the subsequent flood of interest from Wall Street and Silicon Valley have brought mainstream interest in the once-fringe sector to a fever pitch.
In the last episode of Fortune The Crypto Playbook podcast, available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube, financial editor Jeff John Roberts and senior reporter Leo Schwartz discuss what this year will mean for the industry after its triumphant 2025. Despite the increased attention, crypto remains on the edge of a precipice, with the price of Bitcoin falling below $100,000 and digital asset treasury companies underwater, even as banks rush to explore stablecoins and hot prediction markets use blockchain technology.
Here are some storylines to watch out for in 2026:
- After exploding to over $125,000 in 2025, Bitcoin ended the year on a negative note, although it has since started to move back towards $100,000. As institutions buy the popular digital asset, will retail traders follow?
- The biggest push in 2025 was stablecoins, or dollar-backed digital assets, which could disrupt global payments. But crypto proponents argue that decentralized finance, or DeFi, is the next big development, especially as other assets such as stocks are tokenized on blockchains. Will Wall Street be disrupted?
- Prediction markets like Polymarket represented the most significant adoption in crypto, with many employing blockchain technology to facilitate trades and settle contracts. But are these really crypto companies and what other applications will be adopted in the real world?
- The Trump family continues to dabble in crypto, with its digital assets project World Liberty Financial applying for a banking charter. Will potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations lead to political backlash?
The crypto industry hopes to build on its considerable progress in 2026. Tune in to the Crypto Playbook every week to see how the progress is unfolding.
