21Shares Cuts 2026 Crypto Forecasts Despite Growing Institutional Adoption

Asset manager 21Shares cut several of its 2026 crypto forecasts while saying institutional adoption has continued to grow even as weaker prices and slower enterprise adoption have delayed parts of the industry’s recovery.

“Bitcoin crashed to $58,700 on Thursday and now options traders are convinced it will crash as far as $52,000 before the year is over, which would be its lowest level since August 2024”

Bitget

In its midyear outlook, 21Shares said progress in areas including exchange-traded funds, stablecoin regulation, tokenization, and prediction markets has exceeded what recent price action suggests, even as it reduced several expectations it had set earlier this year.

CoinMarketCap

21Shares also argued that Bitcoin’s four-year market cycle remains intact, writing that “After peaking at around $126,000 in October 2025, Bitcoin pulled back sharply and has continued to trade in line with prior post-halving patterns,” while noting that institutional ownership has softened market drawdowns.

The firm projected prediction markets to exceed $100 billion in annual trading volume this year and highlighted consolidation as an accelerating trend across crypto markets, including publicly listed companies trading below the value of their crypto holdings.

Former 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder, who left the company after its acquisition by FalconX in 2025, echoed the view that the investor base is now more institutional and tied to the wider financial system, writing, “The investor base is larger, more institutional, and more connected to the broader financial system.”

Even with weaker market conditions, 21Shares said crypto investment products continued attracting institutional capital, pointing to U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recording about $3 billion in net outflows this year while ETF holdings remain above 1.25 million BTC.

The firm argued that those figures indicate many investors have maintained or quietly increased positions instead of exiting during the downturn, while also warning that recent volatility has weighed on sentiment.

Cointelegraph

CoinMarketCap reported that 21Shares said its earlier prediction that Bitcoin would break from its historical four-year cycle in 2026 has not come true, adding that Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Wednesday, June 24, for the second time this month.

CoinMarketCap also quoted 21Shares acknowledging the shift in price behavior, writing, “We have to be honest.”

In the same broader picture, 21Shares said ETF ownership of Bitcoin has become increasingly institutional and helped stabilize the market compared with past downturns, even as ETF inflows have not matched what it expected.

While 21Shares framed the market as consolidating rather than capitulating, Bitget reported that options traders are betting Bitcoin will crash to $52,000 in 2026, after Bitcoin crashed to $58,700 on Thursday.

“21shares trims 2026 crypto forecasts despite institutional adoption gains Asset manager 21shares sees crypto infrastructure advancing faster than prices, as ETFs, stablecoins and prediction markets mature while several 2026 targets slip”

Cointelegraph

Bitget said the decline would be the lowest level since August 2024 and described how traders bought puts as Bitcoin broke below the price level bulls kept defending, with volume on Thursday close to 1.1 million contracts.

The report tied the positioning to Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT), stating that “Of the total options premium for IBIT of $187 million, $144 million came from puts,” and that the most active options were mostly bearish.

Bitget also said crypto market data providers reported roughly $450 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated in only 60 minutes during the morning drop, turning the selloff into a bigger problem for crypto markets.

In parallel, Bitget highlighted Strategy, (NASDAQ: MSTR), noting it owns 847,363 Bitcoin at an average purchase price of $75,651 per coin, and said the stock has lost more than 80% of its value since last October’s flash crash.