Analysts at Delphi Digital believe the era of synchronized altcoin growth has come to an end. By 2026, capital will be concentrated in projects with proven value and in-demand products.

https://t.co/m1EcOi3uNS

— Delphi Digital (@Delphi_Digital) January 13, 2026

Experts say the market is shifting from a speculative phase to one driven by structural demand and real economic activity.

Three factors are pressuring the sector:

  1. Resource competition. The AI, robotics, and biotechnology sectors are attracting capital and skilled labor.
  2. Liquidity concentration. The main flow of funds is directed towards Bitcoin ETFs and major altcoins.
  3. Increased supply. Upcoming token unlocks worth $3 billion will add further pressure on prices.

In this environment, investors will gravitate towards projects backed by exchange-traded funds, those generating revenue and implementing buyback programs, as well as applications that address specific user needs.

“The winners will be the teams that can build sustainable competitive advantages in segments where real economic activity is taking place,” predicted Delphi Digital.

Perp-DEX as the 'New Wall Street' and Other Predictions

Experts expect that in the coming year, perp-DEX will increasingly displace traditional financial institutions. They believe these platforms will become a unified infrastructure, replacing the fragmented TradFi stack.

Hyperliquid is already building a native credit market. Such platforms can simultaneously act as a broker, exchange, custodian, bank, and clearinghouse “within a single smart contract.”

Delphi Digital also highlighted the following key trends for 2026:

  • AI agents will begin executing transactions through protocols like x402 and ERC-8004, creating autonomous economies;
  • Prediction markets will become part of TradFi infrastructure;
  • Platforms that generate demand for stablecoins will capture some revenue from their issuers;
  • Unsecured DeFi lending will cease to be a risky experiment and evolve into a reliable financial infrastructure thanks to technologies like zkTLS;
  • The tokenized forex segment will attract even more users;
  • Bitcoin and gold will become the primary assets for hedging against the devaluation of national currencies;
  • Cryptocurrency exchanges will transform into “super apps;”
  • Privacy infrastructure will catch up with demand.

As a reminder, analysts at a16z crypto predicted growth in prediction markets and ZK proofs.