Experts predict a bitcoin bull run in 2026

Crypto tech entrepreneur Jesse Eckel has predicted that 2026 will be a real bull run for the digital asset market, with bitcoin’s potential growth BTC $87,448.01 Mezo Wrapped BTC -1.06% Market capitalization $47.48 million VOL. 24 hours $0.99 billion to $ 250,000. In his opinion, this will be driven by structural shifts in the market, a significant increase in institutional participation, new regulatory initiatives, and the rapid growth of the role of stablecoins and AI-based projects.

Eckel, who admitted the failure of his own forecasts for 2025, noted that the market did not have sufficient macro liquidity at the time, and was moving mainly due to narratives and institutional flows. In 2026, he expects an «epic reversal» — a moment when all the positive news that has been ignored will finally be reflected in prices.

Among the key market drivers, he named: the explosive growth of stablecoins; AI projects' leadership among altcoins; the adoption of the market structure law; the doubling of ETF flows in BTC and ETH; the approval of at least one altcoin ETF; three new key rate cuts in the United States; and the Trump-Bessent administration’s stimulus measures ahead of the election.

His new targets are $ 170,000−250,000 for Bitcoin and $ 10,000−20,000 for Ethereum. He emphasized that he has invested everything — even selling his house — and said that if he fails again, «I might just leave the market.»

Andrew Forson, President of DeFi Technologies, supported this optimism, calling stablecoins the «killer app» of the cryptocurrency industry. He believes that they provide a seamless flow of capital between different asset classes, and that real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and blockchain integration into financial infrastructure will be key drivers of institutional adoption.

Despite the general euphoria, some analysts warn of a possible return of cryptocurrencies in 2026, pointing to market fatigue and the lack of new powerful catalysts.