Best Investments 2026: Crypto gets a reality check, but what lies ahead?

CRYPTOCURRENCIES HAD A rollercoaster ride in 2025. True to its volatile nature, the crypto market cap went from $3.37 trillion on December 31, 2024, to a high of $4.20 trillion in October and a down-in-the-dumps level of $2.96 trillion on December 17, 2025. This is in sharp contrast to key stock market indices such as the S&P 500 (up 16.34% in the past year), the Nasdaq (up 20.30% for the year), and, for that matter, India’s equity market benchmark, the BSE Sensex (up 8.61% year-to-date, as of December 17, 2025). Gold, one of the world’s most stable assets, vastly outperformed the so-called digital gold, Bitcoin, rising 55% year-to-date in 2025 after hitting a record high of $4,370 an ounce in October. In terms of total asset value, gold is still 11x Bitcoin. Bitcoin (BTC), the first cryptocurrency and the sector leader with a 58.8% share, had one of its defining years. After Donald Trump, the most famous backer of cryptocurrency, became U.S. President on January 20, Bitcoin crossed $100,000, rising 9.43% in the first 20 days of 2025. In May, it hit a new high at $111,681.70, recording a 20% YTD growth. The next all-time highs came in July, August and October, with October 6’s high reaching $126,080, a 33% YTD gain. Days later, BTC’s price sharply dropped to $113,236.42, dealing a massive blow to investors. Then came the meltdown from October 10-11 to October 19, triggered by Trump’s threat to impose new trade tariffs on China. The shock waves erased around $19 billion in leveraged positions. Ethereum (ETH), which has the second-largest share (12.1%) of the crypto market, has dipped by 20.62% in the past year. Since its September high of $4,946, ETH fell 37% to $3,109.07 on December 15. Its market capitalisation was down to $374.4 billion. Other top coins and altcoins were buffeted in the wake of BTC and ETH. Had investors expected this across-the-board collapse? Edul Patel, co-founder & CEO of Mudrex, a crypto trading app, says, “In 2025, the market largely moved sideways, with total market capitalisation hovering around $3.07 trillion. While most assets remained in a consolidation phase, tokens such as XAUT, Zcash, and Hyperliquid outperformed broader trends. Despite muted price action, on-chain fundamentals strengthened.” On a more positive note, “whale” wallets — individuals or institutions holding over 1,000 BTC each — climbed to around 1,384 by mid-November, reaching a four-month high and signalling accumulation. “Bitcoin balances on centralised exchanges fell to a six-year low at 2.83 million BTC, reducing immediate sell pressure. More than 61% of Bitcoin’s supply remains untouched for over a year, highlighting long-term confidence from holders,” Patel tells Fortune India. In 2025, Indian crypto investors mostly held safe, established coins for the long term, while still dabbling in riskier tokens for short-term gains. Ashish Singhal, co-founder, CoinSwitch, says, “Data shows that BTC reclaimed the top spot with 8.1% of total holdings, while DOGE (Dogecoin) slipped to second at 6.0%. ETH held steady in third [place] at 5.2%, and SHIB (Shiba Inu) continued to enjoy strong loyalty at 4.5%.” Singhal says Ripple, with its XRP cryptocurrency, emerged as a quiet climber at 3.9%, while blue-chip favourites such as ADA, POL, ICP, and SOL stayed stable in the 2–3% range. Overall, half of the Top 10 invested coins were blue-chips, older, more established, widely used networks, reflecting a clear preference for stability among long-term investors, even though trading behaviour remained distinctly more experimental. India’s crypto landscape Though India lacks regulatory clarity on crypto, it ranks among the top in blockchain and Web3 developer share and other key metrics such as crypto adoption, thanks to its large, young user base supported by a crypto-fluent middle class and increasing institutional interest. CoinDCX, one of the country’s largest crypto exchanges with 20 million users, in its latest annual report wrote that for India, the year marked record participation, structural maturity, and a shift to long-term, research-led investing. It reported trading volume of ₹51,333 crore. “If you’re still watching price charts, you’re missing the revolution happening beneath the surface. India has more than 200 million demat accounts, which reflects a strong and growing investment mindset. Now, Indians also have an opportunity and access to a global, borderless asset class operating 24x7,” says co-founder Sumit Gupta. Across the world, policy landmarks added to the confidence of cryptocurrency investors. In July, Trump signed into law the GENIUS Act, designed to make the U.S. the leader in digital assets while protecting consumers. The European Union had already implemented MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), which lays out unified market rules for crypto assets. Hong Kong also tightened its institutional trading standards framework. India, however, didn’t see much progress after the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s decision to formally examine virtual digital assets (VDAs) for FY25. There was talk that the government would release a crypto white paper, but nothing happened. Patel of Mudrex says, “While India is evaluating its approach, global regulatory clarity has helped improve confidence and fuel steady trading momentum.” CoinDCX’s Gupta agrees, saying regulatory clarity will play a key role in ensuring India remains competitive. “These developments are directionally positive, but India needs to move faster.” In Budget 2025, the government widened the definition of VDAs to include crypto assets. To align with global efforts to track crypto-asset transactions and ensure tax compliance, India included provisions to implement the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) in the new Income Tax Act. Singhal of CoinSwitch says, “2025 has been an interesting year for India’s crypto landscape. What shaped trading volumes in 2025 was India’s evolving approach towards the crypto ecosystem.” Macro headwinds and structural shifts The global crypto market saw an upward trajectory until October’s mega wipeout. Experts cite macro factors such as a tariff war initiated by the U.S., geopolitical tensions, high interest rates, and tighter liquidity as driving the market’s behaviour. ETF inflows, major drivers in 2024 and early 2025, also peaked. “These factors did not break the market; they just reset expectations. Investors are still interested, but they are far more selective, treating crypto less like a momentum trade and more like a strategic, allocation-based asset class,” says CoinSwitch’s Singhal. Mudrex’s Patel says, “The Trump administration’s tariff war impacted risk assets like crypto and equity. While Fed rate cuts in the second half of the year helped build momentum, the U.S. government shutdown created a liquidity crunch in the market.” Crypto’s global mainstream moment Crypto is no longer just a trading digital currency, but an entirely new financial universe that aims to reimagine how we interact with today’s financial ecosystem. It has gone beyond trading to include payments, remittances, lending and borrowing, decentralised exchanges, stablecoins, tokenised real-world assets, and on-chain financial infrastructure. Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, and the Middle East accelerated regulatory adoption, with global crypto users rising to 716 million, and monthly active addresses hitting 181 million, according to the State of Crypto 2025 report by a16z Crypto, a VC fund that invests in crypto startups. There was an increase of 10 million users last year, with estimated monthly active users who transact on-chain monthly surging to 40-70 million. Data with a16z Crypto shows the trigger was the adoption of crypto by big names such as BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Circle, Robinhood, Fidelity, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Stablecoins now rival some of the world’s largest payment networks in transaction volume. In the last 12 months, Visa processed transactions worth $16 trillion and PayPal processed $1.7 trillion. Stablecoins alone processed $9 trillion. Stablecoins are one of the cheapest ways to send a dollar in less than one second for under one cent, which explains their growing utility for remittances for a country like India, which has been ranked top among the big recipients of remittances, recording $129 billion in inflow in 2024, the World Bank’s data shows. With stablecoins offering cost-efficient and rapid cross-border transactions, experts believe India could revolutionise its $130 billion remittances market. The a16Z report says real-world assets such as bonds and real estate are being tokenised and moved onto blockchains, with about $30 billion already represented on-chain. According to blockchain security firm Chainalysis’ 2025 crypto crime report, the value received by illicit cryptocurrency addresses was $40.9 billion in 2024 alone. Stolen funds increased by approximately 21% YoY to $2.2 billion. Crypto market outlook If 2025 was a year when institutional engagement reached unprecedented depth (a majority of global hedge funds now hold crypto), 2026 will likely be defined by clarity and structure as crypto establishes the foundation of a new financial system. A CryptoQuant research note says, “If selling pressure remains subdued, a relief rally could push Bitcoin as high as $99K. This level is the lower band of the Trader On-chain Realised Price bands, which is a price resistance during bear markets. After this level, the key price resistances are $102K.” Industry participants expect crypto markets to be driven less by cyclical events and more by fundamentals, institutional flows and real-world adoption. Gupta of CoinDCX says that with 55% of hedge funds now holding crypto, the market is entering a more mature, long-term phase.

Best Investments 2026: Crypto gets a reality check, but what lies ahead?

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