Prediction: 2026 Will Be M&A Heavy

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In this year-end Bits + Bips roundtable, hosts Austin Campbell and Chris Perkins are joined by John D’Agostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, for a wide-ranging and often contentious look at what 2026 may hold for crypto.

They debate whether a major global brand will launch its own stablecoin, whether altcoins are structurally doomed—or secretly set up for a Wall Street–driven resurgence—and whether a major crypto hack is coming.

The conversation also explores how tokens accrue value and whether there will be a new M&A trend that’ll reshape the industry as we know it.

Plus: don’t miss what they have to say about NFTs, financial nihilism, and whether we’ll see all-time highs for bitcoin in 2026.

Hosts:

• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

• Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting

• Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund

Guest:

• John D'Agostino, Head of Strategy for Coinbase Institutional

Timestamps

🚀 3:38 Why John thinks a global Web2 giant will launch a stablecoin in 2026
💵 8:34 How big the stablecoin market can actually get and where tokenized deposits fit in
🚫 12:18 Whether stablecoins will face outright bans in parts of the world
🔓 16:18 Why a major crypto hack of more than $2 billion in 2026 seems likely
🏛️ 19:56 Why it looks like crypto market structure legislation won’t pass in 2026 — and maybe not after the midterms either
🧠 30:57 John’s three counter-consensus predictions involving quantum tech and AGI
📉 39:25 Whether altcoins are structurally set up to underperform again in 2026
⚡ 44:02 Whether massive Solana adoption would or wouldn’t translate into token value
🌀 45:00 What “financial nihilism” explains about altcoin behavior
🤝 49:50 Why Chris believes 2026 could become a defining year for crypto M&A
🇺🇸 59:57 How U.S. political shifts now could ripple into the 2028 election cycle
🖼️ 1:02:39 What an NFT comeback would actually look like and why it won’t resemble JPEG mania
💣 1:07:05 Why John isn’t buying the idea that post-10/10 blowups are inevitable
📈 1:08:26 Whether all-time highs in 2026 are still on the table

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