Bitwise CIO Says Rising Token Value Capture May Lead to 2026 Market Recovery

Crypto tokens are gaining recognition and are capturing value at a rapid pace. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says that if this trend continues, the market will have a major rebound in 2026. In a post on X, Hougan argued that despite the current market volatility, major news is getting lost, such as the level of value capture in digital assets trending upward.

Matt Hougan posted on X, “Most of today’s tokens were created in a regulatory era where value capture was risky; as a result, they defaulted to vague governance-style design choices. Under the new regulatory climate, that’s being unwound. I think we’ll start to feel this effect in 2026.”

With new regulatory clarity and ecosystem upgrades, Hougan believes many of those earlier limitations are being reversed.

Investor Interest Ignites Uniswap Rally

One of the prime examples of this shift is Uniswap. UNI, the native token for the protocol, experienced a surge earlier this month after the Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs introduced a new proposal to make the token more attractive to investors.

The proposal includes a protocol-level fee mechanism that would burn UNI tokens, as well as a new “Protocol Fee Discount Auctions” system designed to boost liquidity provider returns. Hougan said this is a clear example of a token actively seeking to increase its value capture.

He said, “The big knock on UNI has always been that it is a governance token. Uniswap is great, but activity on Uniswap didn’t benefit UNI tokenholders. Except now, UNI is considering flipping the fee switch. If the vote goes through, ~16% of trading fees will be used to burn UNI. I suspect this will push UNI toward being a top 10 token by market cap over time.”

On the other hand, Matt Hougan says that Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) could lead the next rally. The upcoming Fusaka upgrade can “significantly increase token value capture.” Expected to go live on December 3, the mainnet improvements and enhanced staking economics. Hougan called it an “under-appreciated catalyst” that could strengthen ETH’s long-term value capture.

Ripple’s XRP is also evolving with community discussions exploring potential staking mechanisms. Such a shift would alter the tokenholder economics and further expand the broader trend emerging across the sector. He said, “The level of value capture in digital assets is up only from here. I think people look at token value capture as static. It’s not.”