This year, the crypto market has reached a critical juncture.

Looking back, the Federal Reserve policy adjustments, the emergence of x402 concepts, the hot prediction markets, the rise of on-chain US stocks, and new opportunities in security tokenization... each change is rewriting the rules of the game. Markets once dominated by pure sentiment are now showing more dimensions and a more rational structure.

As 2025 approaches, many leading institutions have released their market outlooks for 2026. Interestingly—these reports almost never discuss the old questions like "what's the next hot trend" or "which coin will rise." Instead, they are asking a deeper question: "What is this industry evolving into?"

This very transformation itself already explains a lot.

From the perspectives of numerous institutions, a clearer trend is emerging—a growing realization that the crypto industry is undergoing a transition from retail-driven sentiment to institutional capital dominance. Compliance, sustainable value, and the entry of long-term capital have become the keywords defining the next phase.

This is not a hype cycle, but a genuine industry upgrade. The next question is, what specific changes will this upgrade bring? The annual outlooks from seven major institutions may offer us some answers.