Dan Tapiero, founder of growth equity firm 50T Funds, said he expects Bitcoin to reach $180,000 in the current cycle and sees stablecoins as one of the strongest growth areas in crypto going into 2026. For a retail investor with $10,000 to deploy, his answer was simple: split it across Bitcoin, Ether and Solana, then choose the weighting based on personal preference.
His broader thesis goes well beyond token prices. Tapiero said some of the biggest opportunities now sit in crypto infrastructure, especially in areas that are starting to break into mainstream finance. Stablecoins are central to that view. He pointed to transaction volume of $33 trillion in 2025, up from $19.7 trillion in 2024, as evidence that stablecoin rails are becoming increasingly important in global payments.
Stablecoin rails are drawing in traditional financial players
Tapiero said an entire ecosystem is forming around traditional firms trying to work stablecoin rails into their existing operations. That matters because payments and financial services are tied to direct economic use, not only market speculation. In his view, this is one reason the stablecoin segment is gaining traction faster than many other crypto narratives.
He also said tokenization, the convergence of blockchain and AI, and on-chain prediction markets all show promise. Even so, he drew a clear distinction between those themes and the recent rise of crypto treasury companies. On that trend, he was cautious. His criticism was blunt: he does not see much real innovation there, and he said 95% of those companies lack a clear long-term value proposition.
Macro conditions remain part of the Bitcoin case
Tapiero’s Bitcoin outlook is tied to both demand growth and macro conditions. He described the recent market decline as a correction and said the bottom is already in. He also cited falling interest rates and large government spending programs focused on AI infrastructure as supportive forces.
According to Tapiero, that spending wave contributes to currency debasement on a global scale, affecting not just the U.S. dollar but fiat currencies more broadly. That is why he continues to view Bitcoin as both an investment and a macro hedge. His view of crypto in 2026 is that the sector is still early, but maturing quickly, with real use cases taking a larger role in shaping the market.