Top Cryptocurrencies (Beyond Bitcoin) Poised To Surge in 2026
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Cryptocurrency investors spent much of 2025 watching their investments soar to new highs before a late-year slump erased many of those gains. Experts expect similar volatility in 2026, though with fewer extreme peaks and valleys.
As usual, the overall market performance has largely been driven by bitcoin (BTC), the 800-pound crypto gorilla with a market cap bigger than the next 20-plus players combined. Bitcoin’s price set an all-time high above $126,000 in early October 2025 before losing 30% of its value to close the year at less than $88,000. It has since recouped some of those losses, trading at around $90,500 on Jan. 9, 2026
What will happen in 2026 with BTC? That’s “too chaotic to predict,” according to a recent analysis from Galaxy, which specializes in digital assets and data center infrastructure.
“Bitcoin making new all-time highs in 2026 is still possible,” Galaxy noted. “Options markets are currently pricing about equal odds of $70K or $130K for month-end June 2026, and equal odds of $50K or $250K by year-end 2026.”
While bitcoin will continue to command much of the crypto attention in 2026, it’s far from the only player out there. What over cryptos could be ready to explode or enjoy a resurgence in 2026? Here’s a look at four of them, according to experts.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum has been a mild disappointment of late, with a price that has fallen by about 5.6% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance charts.
One reason it could rebound in 2026 is its “institutional infrastructure,” said Greg Monaco, CPA, MBA, founder of Monaco CPA, a virtual firm with a heavy focus on cryptocurrency taxation and accounting.
“Ethereum remains one of the leading networks for stablecoin settlements and tokenized assets,” Monaco told GOBankingRates. “The key question is if ongoing upgrades and institutional interest will support a move toward prior highs. Outcomes vary, and prices depend on broader market liquidity and risk appetite.”
Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XRM)
These two cryptos were picked by Nic Puckrin, a former Goldman Sachs credit analyst and co-founder and CEO of Coin Bureau, an educational YouTube channel on digital assets with more than 2.7 million subscribers.
“Both are among the strongest performers of 2025, but are trading well below their 2025 highs,” Puckrin told GBR. “If any momentum returns to altcoins, it will be 2025’s strongest performers that investors turn to.”
As of Jan. 9, Zcash was rated No. 17 out of all 8,965 active cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, while Monero edged it out slightly at No. 15.
While Puckrin sees a potential resurgence for both Zcash and Monero in 2026, he’s less optimistic about altcoins in general.
“It’s questionable if we will see a rebound in altcoins at all in 2026,” he said. “Right now, they are facing too many headwinds to be able to predict this with any level of certainty. Even if we do see a recovery in altcoins this year, it will only be certain tokens and narratives that catch a break — not a 2021-style altseason by any stretch of the imagination.”
Solana (SOL)
This is another pick by Monaco, who said “consumer speed and payments” will be central to Solana’s 2026 narrative.
“[Solana’s] roadmap includes upgrades like Firedancer and planned changes such as Alpenglo,” Monaco added. “These aim to boost performance and address past reliability concerns. If execution keeps going and user activity rises with payments, trading, gaming, and stablecoin use, Solana may see outsized upside in a strong market.”
Investors who put money into Solana a year ago would probably welcome an “outsized upside.” SOL’s price has fallen by about 28% over the past year, per Yahoo Finance.
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