Cryptocurrency markets began 2026 with a concentrate on Solana as Santiment data showed that discussion of whales accumulating SOL-related tokens was the major trend on Thursday.
Santiment said that multiple assets linked to SOL have seen 10 or more purchases of Solana (SOL) repeatedly from major wallets.
“Market capitalization varies widely, but liquidity stays high, indicating continued interest from large holders,” Santiment said in a post Thursday by which he identified five trending themes.
The market trend tracker's “behavioral heuristic” scores for these assets were around 70%, indicating moderate but regular investor confidence. Although Solana has lost about 46% of its value over the past three months, Santiment says data suggests increasing whale accumulation in anticipation of a price recovery.
Other essential trends at the start of 2026
The second trending topic was New York's entry into 2026 against a backdrop of political change, as newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani made history by taking his oath of office on the Koran.
Another much-discussed topic has been the continued debate over Strategy's accumulation of Bitcoin (BTC), which continues to divide investors between those that see this as a long-term belief and those that are concerned about balance sheet risk after a volatile 2025.
Trends until 2026. Source: Santiment
Traditional finance has also come into the conversation. Bitcoin skeptic Warren Buffett's official exit from Berkshire Hathaway after six a long time has reignited discussions about old investment philosophies and their overlap with digital assets, especially amid reports that the corporate's recent leadership could also be taking a more positive view of Bitcoin.
ETFs and stablecoins are expected to speed up cryptocurrency adoption in 2026
Elsewhere within the industry, discussions about tokenization and the convergence of crypto with traditional finance are gaining momentum.
According to David Duong, head of investment research at Coinbase, the momentum for clearer regulation is more likely to proceed to grow in 2026 and speed up adoption. In a year-end post, Duong said the yr 2025 laid the muse by expanding regulated access to crypto and pushing digital assets deeper into the financial infrastructure.
Duong said spot ETFs, corporate crypto treasuries, the rise of stablecoins and tokenized assets are increasingly a part of mainstream financial operations.
He added that these trends are more likely to grow in the following yr as ETF approval timelines shorten, stablecoins gain a bigger role in delivery-versus-payment systems, and tokenized collateral becomes more widely accepted in traditional transactions.
