Crypto market predictions for 2026: Dragonfly’s Qureshi sees insane growth in two areas
Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi predicts 2026 will see growth in proven infrastructure and payments, with Bitcoin above $150,000.Summary
Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, forecasts that 2026 in crypto will favor established infrastructure and real-world usage over rapid experimentation. He expects Bitcoin to exceed $150,000 but hold a smaller market share, indicating growth elsewhere. Qureshi is skeptical of newer fintech-branded blockchains, anticipating developer activity to concentrate on neutral, composable infrastructure like Ethereum and Solana. He foresees deeper corporate involvement, possibly a major tech company launching a crypto wallet, and Fortune 100 firms deploying blockchain systems, benefiting platforms like Avalanche and rollups.
In DeFi, market structure will consolidate around dominant venues for perpetual futures trading, with innovation in derivatives favoring negotiated execution. Qureshi's strongest conviction lies in payments, predicting sharp stablecoin supply expansion, overwhelmingly dollar-denominated, driven by new distribution rails for everyday use, especially in emerging markets.
Politically, he expects a crypto market structure bill to advance in the U.S. Congress, though potentially unsatisfying to some. He also warns of scrutiny over crypto ventures linked to U.S. politics. Finally, he sees prediction markets expanding culturally, while AI's near-term crypto gains remain concentrated in developer tooling and security.
(Source：CoinDesk)