2026 Will Be a Dull Year for BTC, But Payment Technology Will Improve

Bitcoin may face a challenging year in 2026, with many analysts predicting that this cryptocurrency will continue its downward trend from the end of 2025. However, even if prices decline slightly, pioneers believe that next year could mark a turning point for Bitcoin’s practical utility, as payment infrastructure continues to improve and the use of BTC as a medium of exchange becomes simpler and more accessible. According to veteran Bitcoin investor Michael Terpin, the price of Bitcoin could bottom out at around $60,000 in Q4 2026, creating a buying opportunity. Terpin’s forecast: “Late 2026 will be a great time to buy, as the market gradually hits bottom due to fear giving way to a wave of mass buying in 2028 and 2029 after the next halving event, which could lead to supply disruptions.”

Mr. Terpin states that Bitcoin still has about a 20% chance of reaching a new high before the cycle bottom, but this rate is gradually decreasing month by month. Mr. Terpin believes that a new Federal Reserve chairman should help improve macroeconomic conditions by lowering interest rates, but if the Republican Party does not win both chambers of Congress in the US midterm elections of 2026, it will “paralyze” the friendly legal environment for cryptocurrencies. 2025 is widely predicted to be a volatile year for Bitcoin prices, with many analysts forecasting BTC will rise from $180,000 to $250,000 by the end of 2025, while BTC is on track to end the year at a price below the peak over $100,000 recorded in January.

Despite the decline, Bitcoin payment infrastructure and its use cases will continue to develop in 2026. “2025 has made holding and profiting from Bitcoin easier,” said Rich Rines, a Bitcoin pioneer and blockchain software developer. “2026 will make using it even easier.” Mr. Rines states that Bitcoin-based digital banks, digital infrastructure companies providing online banking services, and Bitcoin-backed stablecoins will drive the adoption of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange. Square’s payment company has integrated Bitcoin payments into its point-of-sale system, allowing merchants to accept BTC as a payment method and automatically convert 1% of their total revenue into BTC if they wish.

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, a layer 2 scaling solution that allows BTC to be used for payments, reduces friction by opening payment channels between parties, with the net channel balance recorded on the BTC ledger in a single final transaction. Graham Krizek, founder of Voltage, a Lightning Network payment company, told Cointelegraph that the Lightning Network could account for up to 5% of stablecoin transactions by 2028.