The Crypto ETF Trends Experts Are Watching in 2026

Crypto had a big 2025, but what are experts focusing on this year?

Like most everything about digital assets, the 2026 crypto outlook is going to be hard to predict. While inflows will likely follow the price of various cryptocurrencies, the asset class has been notoriously tricky to forecast. The impact of new policies, like the GENIUS Act, which created a federal framework to govern cryptocurrencies in the US, will also increase as more issuers roll out stablecoins and tokenized assets. Advisors will need to pay close attention if they want to stay ahead of the curve on new products, market swings and industry changes.

“You still have a significant amount of swirling risks out there on the horizon,” said Matt Bartolini, State Street’s global head of research. “That’s why you also saw things like Ether outperform bitcoin following the GENIUS Act, because of the relationship that it does have relative to the regulations.”

A Healthy (Crypto) Ecosystem

Following a Bitcoin price dive, crypto ETFs took in just $790 million in the fourth quarter, out of the $35 billion in annual inflows, or less than 5%. But what came first, the outflows or the price drops? The market may have been to blame since other sectors — like tech ETFs — also had slowdowns in the latter part of last year. Bartolini said he’s less focused on crypto’s performance than the broader crypto ecosystem and new legislation.

Global crypto assets briefly surpassed $4 trillion following the enactment of the GENIUS Act, according to recent research from the legal services provider Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services. The report also found that:

• Established financial institutions, like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, are exploring the stablecoin ecosystem under the new framework.
• Analysts anticipate the act will result in more stablecoin issuers, increasing competition in a space currently dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).

On the ETF Horizon: Because of these tailwinds, the year ahead is likely to be just as big as — if not bigger than — the previous two years for crypto ETFs. “[Prices are] much higher than they were at the bottom of their trough last year,” said Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at VettaFi. “We have seen a little bit of strength at the beginning of the year, as prices start coming back.”

Stablecoins and tokenization will be big themes in 2026, Islam added, with some issuers — like Amplify, Bitwise and Grayscale — already filing for such products. “Basically what they do is invest in equities of financial companies that are involved in the stablecoin and tokenization process, and they also invest in things like Ether and Solana…  So I think we’re going to see a lot more talk about stablecoins and tokenization as the year goes on.”