Store of Value Demand, Regulation to Drive 2026 Crypto Bull Market

Demand for alternative stores of value and clearer regulations are driving what could become crypto’s next bull market, according to Grayscale.

Speaking on CNBC’s “Crypto World,” Grayscale’s head of research Zach Pandl said Monday that the strongest driver remains macroeconomic pressure. Increasing government debt, persistent fiscal deficits and concerns over fiat currency debasement are pushing investors to look beyond traditional assets.

“There’s a lot of things happening in crypto … but the biggest asset in the market, Bitcoin, is driven because of demand for alternative stores of value because of debt and deficits and the risk of fiat currency debasement,” he said.

Pandl added that these macro imbalances are unlikely to fade in the near term, meaning the portfolio shifts should continue into 2026.

Related: 2026 is the year Ethereum starts scaling exponentially with ZK tech

Grayscale expects more regulatory clarity in 2026

The second major driver of the crypto bull market is regulation. Grayscale expects bipartisan progress on a US crypto market structure bill in early 2026, following delays caused by political gridlock and a government shutdown. While the legislation did not pass in 2025, Pandl said momentum has returned, with lawmakers on both sides showing interest in establishing clearer federal rules for digital assets.

“We’ve come a very long way this year in terms of the operating environment for uh businesses in crypto in the United States. However, there is still a long way to go,” he said.

Pandl said that regulatory clarity may allow startups, mature firms and even Fortune 500 companies to issue tokens as part of their capital structure, alongside stocks and bonds. He said token issuance may become a standard financing option once the legal status of digital assets is firmly established.

Related: Is Bitcoin’s 4-year cycle broken — and if so, where to next?

Big Tech, banks to push crypto adoption in 2026: Dragonfly

Echoing comments from Pandl, Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi has said that a major Big Tech company is likely to integrate a crypto wallet in 2026, potentially onboarding billions of users. He speculated that companies including Google, Meta, or Apple could launch or acquire a wallet.

Qureshi also expects more Fortune 100 companies, particularly in banking and fintech, to build their own blockchains. These networks are likely to be private or permissioned while remaining connected to public chains, using infrastructure such as Avalanche and modular stacks like OP Stack and ZK Stack.