Bitcoin and DATs primed for explosive 2026: LONGITUDE

Bitcoin all-time highs. Digital plus treasuries. Billions of dollars of organization inflows. 2025 has been a breakout twelvemonth for the cryptocurrency abstraction and this momentum could proceed into 2026.

The industry’s brightest minds painted an optimistic outlook for the remainder of the twelvemonth astatine Cointelegraph’s exclusive LONGITUDE lawsuit during Token2049 successful Singapore.

Maelstrom main concern serviceman Arthur Hayes, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, acclaimed writer Neal Stephenson, and Aave Labs laminitis Stani Kulechov headlined a programme that delved into the large narratives dominating 2025.

LONGITUDE was co-hosted by Unlimit, a global fintech person successful outgo processing, banking arsenic a work (BaaS), and an on-ramp fiat solution for crypto, DeFi, and GameFi.

Rayls, Flipster and ICB Labs besides featured arsenic partners of Cointelegraph’s flagship event.

Hayes’ $3.2 cardinal Bitcoin prediction

Hayes’ fireside chat was jam-packed with his signature spicy takes. He unpacked his thesis for Bitcoin hitting $3.2 million, driven by models predicting continued monetary enlargement by the US Treasury.

“The bulk of it volition spell into Bitcoin, and I deliberation the caller meta is cardinal play - currency travel and revenue. The token projects that bash truly good successful this altseason volition person benignant of a Hyperliquid-style profitability, taking those profits, buying backmost their token oregon doing immoderate benignant of emissions,” Hayes said.

Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson successful speech with Arthur Hayes.

The Maelstrom CIO besides said that the integer plus treasuries (DATs) volition apt beryllium dominated by a fistful of archetypal movers.

“It’s different fiscal merchandise to trade. It’s large that this is benignant of a backmost doorway to springiness crypto vulnerability to investors who different wouldn’t beryllium capable to ain it,” Hayes said. “The superior is going to beryllium concentrated successful the larger names similar Strategy oregon Bitmine. They’re going to person the lion’s share.”

DAT treasury meta

LONGITUDE besides fielded a DAT statement betwixt 3 large players focused connected drastically antithetic assets. SharpLink Gaming CEO Joseph Chalom championed the company’s Ethereum playbook, saying Ether provides a wide spectrum of benefits implicit different tokens.

SharpLink Gaming CEO Joseph Chalom.

“I person a content that astir of concern volition beryllium fundamentally disrupted by Ethereum and its L2s, and I judge we’re astatine the constituent wherever it’s not conscionable going to beryllium fiscal markets changing, it’s going to beryllium civilization-level change.”

Related: Ethereum DATs are the adjacent Berkshire Hathaway: Consensys founder

The Smarter Web Company CEO, Andrew Webley — the antheral down the UK’s astir palmy publicly-listed Bitcoin treasury institution — was adamant that determination is nary 2nd champion to BTC connected the equilibrium sheet:

“So there’s simply 2 qualities that I similar astir Bitcoin. The fixed fig that volition ever beryllium and the information that nary 1 controls it.”

David Namdar, who has raised $500 cardinal for BNC’s BNB (BNB) treasury, pointed to BNB Chain’s inferior and important usage arsenic good arsenic Binance’s presumption arsenic the world’s largest speech arsenic cardinal reasons for adopting BNB.

“If you deliberation astir Facebook, Google, Apple, the largest companies successful each of their verticals, they’re publically listed successful the US. In the crypto space, the biggest institution successful the space, Binance, is perchance 5 to 10 times larger than immoderate different crypto exchange,” Namdar said.

Metaverse vision

Lubin and Stephenson’s fireside took things successful a much philosophical direction, arsenic they unpacked the latter’s astute predictions for a aboriginal that hinged connected cryptography and decentralized systems successful his critically acclaimed novels Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

Lubin said that helium drew a batch of inspiration from Stephenson’s novels arsenic a youngster and resonated profoundly with the mode Stephenson imagined a cypherpunk future. 

Joe Lubin and Neal Stephenson astatine LONGITUDE successful Singapore.

“The happening that was truly affirmative and compelling was however helium articulated what cyberspace mightiness look similar and consciousness similar and however you mightiness get into cyberspace and interact with objects and space. It was a crisp, stark vision. I deliberation it showed the mode for a batch of builders of my generation,” Lubin said.

The Consensys laminitis provided deeper insights into his hopes for SharpLink and Ether-based DATs and besides revealed that SWIFT is utilizing Consensys-based Ethereum improvement tools to germinate its existing infrastructure to blockchain rails.

Trillion-dollar infrastructure

The lawsuit wrapped up with a quickfire sheet exploring the synergies betwixt TradFi and DeFi infrastructure rails.

Kulechov highlighted Aave’s increasing dominance of the DeFi landscape, arsenic nett deposits eclipse $70 billion.

“To enactment that into context, that would beryllium similar the 35th biggest slope successful examination successful the US, and we’re not reasoning of being that end-user product. We deliberation of Aave and DeFi arsenic an infrastructure that is past embedded into these fintechs and accepted fiscal services that volition administer this.”

Unlimit’s laminitis Kiril Eves said his institution had nary prime but to onboard crypto services owed to request from its expansive lawsuit base:

“Everything’s going to beryllium crypto. And of course, stablecoins would regenerate the classical mode of ligament transfers completely. That’s what they tin beryllium for us. This aboriginal is ace clear. So that’s wherefore we request we request to service this industry.”

Privacy is different large crushed wherefore TradFi is looking to blockchain infrastructure. Rayls CEO Marcos Viriato said that Rayls’ work is tapping into a increasing assemblage that is primed for decentralized evolution.

“When it comes to infrastructure for banks and fiscal institutions, it needs to beryllium secure, reliable and abstract the complexity for the end-user. Our absorption has been to supply this to banks truthful they tin service clients successful a mode that the lawsuit doesn’t cognize that’s being tokenized, but volition instrumentality the benefits from it,” Viriato said.

Cointelegraph volition big its adjacent LONGITUDE lawsuit successful Abu Dhabi connected Dec. 11. If you’re funny successful joining 1 of the industry’s astir exclusive events, much details tin beryllium recovered connected Luma.

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