In 2026, capital inflows into cryptocurrencies are expected to continue growing, driven primarily by institutional investors, according to The Block, citing JPMorgan analysts.
Bank experts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou reported that in 2025, inflows reached a record $130 billion, a third higher than in 2024.
The adoption of the Clarity Act in the United States will play a key role. Clear regulation will stimulate activity around venture financing, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings (IPO). Revitalization is expected in the sectors of stablecoins, payments, infrastructure, and custodial solutions.
2025 Highlights
The past year was marked by retail investors. Growth was driven by inflows into bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, as well as purchases by firms using digital assets as reserves (DAT). Hedge fund activity through futures on the CME noticeably declined compared to 2024.
DAT companies accounted for more than half of all inflows—around $68 billion. Of this, $23 billion was provided by Strategy (compared to $22 billion the previous year). Other market participants invested $45 billion in digital assets, significantly exceeding the $8 billion from the previous period.
However, since October, this trend has slowed. Major holders, including Strategy and BitMine, reduced their purchase volumes by the end of the year.
Venture Market and Forecasts
Venture financing grew slightly. The sector could not return to the peaks of 2021-2022. Investors redirected capital previously intended for startups into more liquid DAT strategies, leading to a decline in the total number of deals.
Analysts noted that the period of risk reduction has ended. The reduction of positions by investors at the end of 2025 is behind, and the market shows signs of stabilizing ETF flows and other indicators.
Hayes’ Forecast
Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes published an essay analyzing the reasons for bitcoin’s weak performance in 2025 amidst the rise of gold and tech sector stocks. He believes the situation will change in 2026 due to a “forced infusion” of dollar liquidity into the U.S. economy.
“Frowny Cloud” is a chart study of $BTC, gold, and stonks in 2025, and a prediction on how dollar liquidity will expand this year and send $BTC to Valhalla.https://t.co/UvagTQl219 pic.twitter.com/nj5ja6DEmi
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) January 15, 2026
Hayes noted that bitcoin, as an instrument dependent on monetary expansion, reacted to the reduction of the Fed’s balance with an expected decline. However, gold showed historical growth despite the drop in liquidity.
The rally in the precious metal was driven by central banks’ actions. Regulators are massively buying physical gold, moving away from U.S. Treasury bonds. Hayes linked this to sovereign states’ concerns about asset freezes, as happened with Russia’s reserves in 2022.
“Central banks act as insensitive buyers to quotes. If the U.S. president can steal your money, its value instantly becomes zero. In such conditions, the purchase price of gold does not matter if it eliminates counterparty risk,” he wrote.
The rise of the Nasdaq index, particularly in the artificial intelligence sector, Hayes explained as a de facto “nationalization” of the industry.
Following Donald Trump’s election program, the U.S. authorities are directing capital into AI to maintain technological leadership over China. This creates a situation where the tech sector receives funding regardless of actual profitability or general credit market conditions. Such government support allowed stocks to lose correlation with the declining dollar liquidity.
2026 Forecast: Liquidity Returns
The founder of Maelstrom believes that in 2026, dollar liquidity will begin to grow aggressively for three reasons:
- Fed balance growth. The quantitative tightening program is complete. A new reserve management mechanism will ensure money inflows to finance the national debt.
- Bank lending. Commercial financial institutions will start actively lending to “strategic industries” and the military-industrial complex under government guarantees, creating new money in the system.
- Real estate market. The government will use mortgage agencies’ balances to buy securities and lower rates to stimulate the economy.
Investment Strategy
Hayes believes that with the influx of liquidity, bitcoin will resume growth. For a bullish play, he chose shares of DAT companies Strategy and Metaplanet.
According to the expert’s calculations, the ratio of the value of these shares to the bitcoin they hold is currently at a two-year low. He expects that if the price of digital gold returns to $110,000, these stocks will show superior returns due to built-in leverage.
Additionally, the Maelstrom fund continues to increase its position in Zcash, considering the departure of developers from ECC a positive signal for the development of commercial products based on the coin.
As reported by Glassnode, institutional investors have resumed bitcoin purchases amid the risk of explosive volatility.