Will the bear market bottom out on the eve of 2026 New Year's Day? Tokenization surges by 3 times, signaling a return of institutional investors

Bitcoin falls below $87,000, ETF outflows continue for the week. However, in December, listed companies increased holdings by 22,600 coins at a cost of $2.064 billion, surpassing the total of the first three months. The tokenization market is projected to triple by 2025 to reach $18.5 billion, with forecasts exceeding $50 billion in 2026. Ethereum validators’ entry has doubled the exit, signaling a return of institutional confidence.

Institutional Accumulation Defies the Trend, DAT Market Quietly Reboots

(Source: Ethereum)

Despite continuous ETF fund outflows, Bitcoin holdings among listed companies saw a significant increase in December. As of December 29, Eastern Time, listed companies in December spent approximately $2.064 billion to acquire about 22,600 Bitcoin, a number that once exceeded the total Bitcoin accumulated from September to November. During those three months, companies spent about $1.869 billion in total.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) this month increased its cash reserves by $2.19 billion and spent over $200 million to acquire 22,600 Bitcoin. As of December 28, MicroStrategy held approximately 675,000 Bitcoin, with a total investment of about $50.44 billion. Besides MicroStrategy, Trump Media, Spanish listed company Vanadi Coffee, Trend Research, and others have also actively increased their Bitcoin or Ethereum holdings this month.

While these figures cannot compare to the peak of the DAT craze, they perhaps indicate that the DAT market is gearing up. Compared to November’s plunge (Bitcoin dropping from $110,000 at the start of the month to $80,000), Bitcoin this month mostly fluctuated within the $84,000 - $95,000 range. Meanwhile, net outflows from Bitcoin spot ETFs in November were about $3.5 billion, and in December about $1.1 billion, with significantly reduced volatility and capital outflows. Considering year-end risk-off factors, these data suggest a marginal easing of selling pressure.

Ethereum Staking Hot Trend Reverses for the First Time in Six Months

(Source: StrategicETHReserve)

Ethereum DAT market also shows steady growth. Data from Strategic ETH Reserve indicates that as of press time, the total Ethereum reserve was about 6.8127 million, up approximately 7% from 6.3647 million in November. Among them, BitMine holds about 4.1105 million ETH, accounting for roughly 60% of the total reserve.

More notably, the “validator queue” for Ethereum has surged to more than twice the “exit queue” for the first time in six months. According to the latest Ethereum Validator Queue data, about 788,300 ETH are waiting to enter the validator network, with an estimated wait time of nearly 14 days, while the exit queue is only about 310,000 ETH. As of press time, the total staked ETH on Ethereum is about 35.5 million, representing 29.29% of the total supply. Previously, the exit queue peaked at 2.67 million ETH on September 13.

This indicator is undoubtedly an important signal about market fundamentals, reflecting both renewed confidence in the Ethereum ecosystem and strengthening network security. BitMine is also developing MAVAN, a US-based validator network designed specifically for Ethereum native staking, scheduled to fully launch in Q1 2026, injecting new vitality into the ecosystem.

Tokenization Market Triples in 2026, Surging to $50 Billion

Closely related to institutional interests, the tokenization sector is quietly rising. A report from Cantor Fitzgerald shows that the total value of on-chain real-world asset (RWA) tokenization reached an astonishing threefold increase in 2025, hitting $18.5 billion, with projections exceeding $50 billion in 2026.

Three Major Tokenization Sectors Explosive Growth

Tokenized Commodities: Market size about $4 billion, up 11% in the past month, including Tether Gold (XAUt) and Paxos Gold (PAXG)

Tokenized Stocks: Market cap has risen to a record high of $1.2 billion, regarded as “2020’s stablecoin,” with huge development potential

Tokenized Funds: BNY Mellon BUIDL has paid out over $100 million in dividends, and JPMorgan has launched its first Ethereum-based tokenized money market fund

Token Terminal views tokenized stocks as “2020’s stablecoin,” believing they have enormous growth potential. Industry insiders compare this trend to the DeFi boom of early 2020, predicting that in the future, global stocks will be tokenized on a large scale to benefit from faster settlement, 24/7 trading, and fractional ownership. Therefore, 2026 may be a critical turning point for tokenized assets moving from concept validation to large-scale application.

Forecast Market Attracts Capital, Valuation Breaks 10 Billion

In recent months, almost all sectors of the crypto market have faced capital outflows, but the prediction market has emerged as a rising star, attracting capital against the trend. Polymarket and Kalshi have respectively received strategic investments of $2 billion from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and $1 billion in a Series E funding led by Paradigm, with valuations surpassing $10 billion.

The competition in this track is already fierce. Polymarket has been approved to re-enter the US market, Kalshi has brought thousands of prediction markets on-chain via Solana, and the new BNB ecosystem prediction platform Opinion has exceeded $10 billion in nominal trading volume within 55 days of launch. These cases indicate that the prediction market is on the verge of explosive growth and may become another growth driver for the crypto market in 2026.

Market Outlook and Key Supports After New Year 2026

10x Research’s weekly market report points out that implied volatility for Bitcoin and Ethereum has sharply declined at year-end, indicating market expectations of price stabilization. This suggests that months of selling pressure are gradually easing, and market sentiment is shifting from panic to caution. In the short term, Bitcoin support levels are around $84,000 to $84,500. If this key support is broken, the price may drop to the November low of $80,000.

Looking into early 2026, the market will focus more on ETF fund flows, DAT data, prediction markets, tokenization, and the US Clarity Bill. If these positive factors successfully translate into catalysts, market confidence will be greatly boosted, potentially triggering a new bull cycle driven by institutional investors.