A leading exchange: Cryptocurrencies will bid farewell to the era of cyclical fluctuations in 2026

Source: Yellow Original Title: Coinbase says cryptocurrencies will leave their cycle era behind in 2026

Original Link: A leading exchange states that the cryptocurrency market is bidding farewell to historic boom and bust cycles and entering a new phase defined by institutional capital, payment infrastructure, and machine-driven activities. The exchange believes that understanding the traditional framework of digital asset markets is becoming less relevant.

The report positions 2026 as the year when the trajectory of cryptocurrencies will be driven by structural demand factors (including ETFs, corporate balance sheet adoption, stablecoins, and regulatory market access) rather than retail speculation.

A leading exchange claims that these forces have changed the way capital enters the market, how assets are used, and how value is maintained over time.

Bitcoin cycles give way to institutional market structure

A leading exchange states that the long-used models to explain Bitcoin’s performance no longer fully explain current market dynamics.

Historically, price fluctuations have been associated with early adopter cycles, miner behavior, and retail sentiment.

The report states that as institutional participation expands, this framework has weakened.

“We believe that, due to the convergence of new factors that have fundamentally reconfigured demand and market dynamics, this historical framework has greatly diminished in relevance for understanding Bitcoin’s performance,” said a leading exchange.

The report highlights the growing influence of asset management firms, hedge funds, banks, and publicly listed companies, which have begun large-scale Bitcoin additions to their balance sheets starting in 2025.

A leading exchange notes that these investors bring longer time horizons and different risk management objectives.

“In short, institutional commitments tend to lead to larger and more sustainable investments rather than short-term speculative trading,” the report states.

Stablecoins upgrade from use case to financial infrastructure

Stablecoins are central to the outlook for 2026 presented by a leading exchange, which frames them as an emerging narrative rather than the most established practical tool in crypto.

The report states that stablecoins now underpin large-scale payments, liquidity management, and cross-border transfers.

“Stablecoins have solidified their position as the leading use case in the crypto ecosystem,” said a leading exchange, adding that this is “no longer about future speculation but about current reality.”

Looking ahead, the exchange expects that as settlement times shorten and digital dollars become more deeply integrated into existing financial rails, the speed of stablecoins will accelerate.

The report also points to the growing tension between stablecoin adoption and broader de-dollarization trends, observing that dollar-pegged stablecoins could both reinforce and complicate changes in global currency usage.

AI agents and prediction markets emerge as economic participants

A leading exchange also highlights structural expansion in crypto-native markets related to artificial intelligence and information exchange.

The report emphasizes the rapid growth of prediction market trading volume, presenting it as evolving beyond niche speculation into a scalable tool for providing information about future events.

Meanwhile, the exchange anticipates AI systems will become autonomous participants in digital trading.

The company argues that traditional payment systems may be too slow or limited for machine-to-machine trading, creating a demand for crypto-native settlement layers capable of handling continuous microtransactions without human intervention.

The report suggests this shift could open new forms of online trading, as AI agents increase their inter-trading across boundaries and platforms.

Privacy and regulatory access converge in 2026

Privacy is another area expected to expand with widespread adoption, according to a leading exchange. The report notes strong growth in protected trading activities, presenting confidentiality as a practical requirement rather than an ideological preference.

A leading exchange states that the price trends of privacy assets are supported by “significant increases in on-chain privacy usage,” with protected transactions reaching new cycle highs.

The exchange attributes this demand to institutions and professional users seeking to protect sensitive financial information, as well as individuals unwilling to expose their full transaction history in public records.

It expects this trend to grow as adoption increases.