The crypto industry had already found a strong footing by the end of last year, setting the stage for mainstream adoption across retail and institutional markets in 2025.
Backed by emerging crypto-friendly regulatory frameworks, we’ve witnessed the formation of new entities such as Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCOs), robust AI infrastructure integrations in crypto trading markets, and an overall great acceptance of Crypto.
As the year draws to a close, these trends are not going to fade away in 2026. On the contrary, they’re expected to intensify with certain internal structural shifts.
The Next Iteration of DATCOs
DATCOs have grown around 140% in 2025 to reach over $137 billion in total crypto holdings at the end of October 2025, per CoinGecko. Almost 80% of 142 DATCOs are dominated by BTC as the primary treasury asset, followed by ETH and SOL.
Strategy (formerly Microstrategy), led by Michael Saylor, has championed the traditional DATCO model when it first added BTC to its balance sheet in 2020. This model raises capital through equity offerings and convertible notes, thereby funding crypto purchases through debt. So, they need a constant supply of fresh buyers for long-term sustainability.
Although many companies have followed Saylor’s Strategy to become pure-play DATCOs who buy and hold crypto, there’ve been some exceptions as well in 2025. For example, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed WebX (HK.8521) champions the “Bitcoin Accumulating Company” (BAC) model, where it acquires BTC through its core business operations and strategic investments.
Instead of relying solely on debt-funded market purchases, WebX directly embeds BTC into its revenue engine. Investors thus gain Bitcoin exposure through a diversified operational approach rather than pure financial leverage.
Similarly, BTCS S.A., one of the largest European DATCOs, leverages an “Active Treasury” model, blending bitcoin acquisition with emerging ecosystems like ZIGChain and CoreDAO. They generate additional revenue streams by staking their treasury, running validator nodes, and are interested in tokenized assets.
This trend of revenue-generating, operations-driven approaches offers financial leverage over simple digital asset acquisition and price tracking. We can expect this trend to intensify in 2026, as board members will feel the pressure to create long-term value for shareholders.
Better AI-Powered Trading Infrastructure
Trading analysts have predicted that the traditional ‘four-year’ BTC cycle theory may no longer be relevant, and 2026 won’t mark the beginning of a bear market. While it remains to be seen how markets perform, one can expect less volatility with more institutional and retail adoption, along with higher liquidity reserves.
Crypto trading volume is expected to remain steady irrespective of the market conditions. Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges grew over 31% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to $5 trillion, while perp trading volume on decentralized exchanges reached an all-time high quarter of $1.8 trillion in Q3 2025, per CoinGecko. This upward trend is expected to continue into next year.
With the advent of sophisticated AI-powered tools, crypto traders are now better equipped with data-driven insights and actionable signals. These tools provide clarity and help traders execute profitable trades in all types of market conditions.
For example, Bella Protocol’s Bella Signal Bot and LLM Research Bot help navigate volatile markets and give traders a leg up. They have over 65,000 monthly active users and are growing. The Signal Bot uses multiple independent AI trading models to identify statistically favorable conditions across 28 perpetual trading pairs. Instead of reacting to raw price volatility, the system filters market noise and surfaces only high-conviction long, short, and close signals. This model-driven approach helps traders avoid overtrading while benefiting from consistent, data-backed decision support.
Similarly, the LLM Research Bot applies large language models enhanced with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to deliver real-time intelligence directly in Telegram. Users can query the bot to monitor whale movements, analyze token holder distributions, access protocol fundamentals, or retrieve live market data without manually parsing fragmented dashboards or newsfeeds. The result is a streamlined research workflow that brings institutional-grade data interpretation to everyday traders.
In 2026, AI-powered trading tools like Bella’s product suite will help traders monitor market sentiment, analyze cycles, and leverage momentum shifts early on, strengthening the entire crypto trading ecosystem.
Fast Forward to 2026
If 2024 set the tone for crypto’s mass adoption, 2025 has set the foundations for experimenting with tech innovations and bolstering the next stage of growth. We’ve only seen the beginnings of DATCOs and AI-powered training this year. In 2026, they’ll take these growth narratives to a different level, banking on the already-secure fundamentals.
