Altcoin Day by day host Austin Arnold used a Jan. 1 video titled “Prime 6 Crypto Altcoins To Make investments In For 2026” to put out what he framed as three “first-time” catalysts for crypto in 2026 and a corresponding record of six altcoins he says he’d “purchase and maintain” into that backdrop, spanning smart-contract platforms, AI infrastructure, and tokenization-focused performs.
Arnold opened with the declare that crypto sits on the heart of “two mega developments”: digital belongings and the tokenization of monetary belongings and argued the mix of macro coverage, US laws, and SEC posture might drive “trillions of {dollars}” of latest inflows.
The three Bullisch Crypto Catalysts
First, Arnold pointed to what he described as a monetary-policy regime shift, together with the resumption of “reserve administration purchases,” and framed it as supportive for danger belongings broadly. “We’re beginning to see important stimulus,” he mentioned, including that markets have been already seeing “quantitative easing mild” as “the Fed is beginning to purchase its personal bonds,” whereas suggesting demand for presidency debt might fall alongside decrease charges.
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Second, he argued crypto-specific regulation might operate like a inexperienced mild for institutional capital. He singled out the market construction targeted Readability Act, saying its passage could be “like a starter gun for ETH and SOL to run into trillions of {dollars} of worth,” and famous dialogue of a US Senate markup date of Jan. 15 with hopes of motion by late January or February.
Third, Arnold highlighted what he referred to as a tokenization push led by SEC chair Paul Atkins, describing “Undertaking Crypto” as an effort to “carry all of conventional finance on the blockchain.”
He paired that theme with a distribution angle round spot crypto ETFs, leaning on a quote he cited about how uncommon the early ETF progress was: “These have been the one best-selling product on the planet and nobody was allowed to make a cellphone name to promote it or promote it,” he mentioned.
Prime 6 Crypto Altcoins To Make investments In For 2026
Arnold’s first choose is Ethereum. He frames it as the first beneficiary of stablecoin progress and added that stablecoins are “totally on the Ethereum blockchain,” and tied the thesis to regulation by way of the Genius Act, citing a view that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects the sector to develop “10x within the subsequent few years.”
Arnold additionally mentioned Ethereum’s stablecoin share rose to 53% from the high-40s “just some months” earlier, and argued the hyperlink to ETH worth accrual runs by way of charges: “30% of all charges on Ethereum are literally stablecoin income,” he mentioned. “In order that is 10x’es the quantity of charges, the quantity of Ethereum being burned ought to be 10x to match.”
Arnold’s second choose was Solana, which he portrayed as a utilization chief relative to its market worth versus Ethereum. He argued Solana is “already considered one of or if not probably the most used chain in crypto,” and claimed that by way of 2025 it was “extra used than your entire remainder of the trade mixed instances 2 to 3.” He additionally cited a real-world asset milestone, saying Solana “RWA holders…have surpassed 125,000 holders.”
Cardano is subsequent, which Arnold mentioned had a weak 2025 however may benefit from founder Charles Hoskinson’s push round Midnight. Arnold performed an extended excerpt through which Hoskinson argued privateness might be the wedge that modifications person habits:
“They’ll undergo Midnight to Cardano and so they get privateness. They do one thing new and totally different,” Hoskinson mentioned. “Midnight my view might be by way of hybrid purposes… non-public prediction markets, non-public DEXes, non-public secure cash… perhaps… these Bitcoin individuals are going to need to commerce on a non-public DEX as an alternative of a public DEX.”
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Arnold then shifted to AI infrastructure with Bittensor (TAO), calling it “decentralized AI” plumbing and noting it had a latest “halving” and a set provide mannequin he in comparison with Bitcoin’s. He additionally pointed to early-2026 ETF momentum, saying Grayscale filed an S-1 for a TAO product and Bitwise adopted with a Bittensor ETF submitting.
For tokenization publicity, Arnold highlighted Ondo Finance (ONDO) forward of what he described as an Ondo Summit on Feb. 3, the place “world leaders, traders, coverage makers” would reconvene, and closed his record with Propy, a real-estate-focused undertaking he mentioned is “US licensed” for title and escrow closing and “backed by Coinbase,” positioning it as a wager on bringing residence shopping for and promoting “on-chain.”
Arnold closed his record with Propy, explicitly flagging it as probably the most speculative finish of the spectrum and pairing it with a warning that lower-cap publicity can imply “these altcoins go to zero.”
The Altcoin Day by day host described it as “primarily actual property on-chain.” He emphasised operational and regulatory positioning as a part of the pitch, saying Propy is “US licensed title and escrow closing,” and likewise highlighted its backers: “They’re backed once more by Coinbase.”
The funding thesis, as Arnold offered it, is easy tokenization logic utilized to housing: bringing elements of the shopping for and promoting course of onto rails that may be settled and recorded on-chain, with Propy positioned as a undertaking already working throughout the US compliance perimeter he expects to matter extra in 2026.
At press time, the whole crypto market cap stood at $2.98 trillion.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
