Cryptocurrency analytics firm Messari has shared its predictions for the sector in 2026 in its new report.
The report claims that 2025 will be an extremely polarizing year for the crypto industry, with the market offering completely different experiences for different players.
According to Messari, 2025 will be one of the strongest years in crypto history for Wall Street-based institutional investors, while also being a challenging period that will fail to meet the expectations of individual investors and community-oriented participants.
The report states that Bitcoin has clearly moved away from all other crypto assets and consolidated its position as the leading cryptocurrency. The relatively weak performance seen in the second half of 2025 has largely been attributed to selling pressure from older, large-cap portfolios. Messari predicts that this is not a permanent or structural problem and that Bitcoin’s monetary narrative will remain intact in the long term.
The report notes that the valuations of many layer 1 (L1) networks are increasingly decoupled from fundamental metrics. Highlighting significant year-over-year declines in L1 revenue, Messari said current valuations are increasingly based on expectations of a “monetary premium.” With a few exceptions, L1 projects are expected to underperform Bitcoin in the coming period.
Ethereum remains one of the most debated assets in the industry. Although questions about its value accumulation have not completely disappeared, some say the market will begin pricing ETH as a “cryptocurrency” similar to Bitcoin in the second half of 2025. Messari predicts that if a new bull market emerges in 2026, Ethereum-focused digital treasures (DATs) could see a “second life.”
According to Messari, Zcash (ZEC) is no longer just a niche privacy coin; its price is now considered a private cryptocurrency. Amid increasing surveillance, corporate scrutiny and financial pressure, ZEC is positioning itself as a complementary hedge against Bitcoin.
*This does not constitute investment advice.
