Crypto tokens are becoming more effective at capturing value, thanks in part to up-to-date regulations and improvements that could cause prices to skyrocket in 2026, according to Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer.
Hougan he said in a Saturday post on X that crucial news is getting lost in the chaos of the current market slowdown, such as the level of value capture in digital assets, which is trending upwards.
“Most modern tokens were created in a regulatory era where value capture was risky, and as a result, they defaulted to unclear governance-style design choices,” he said.
“In the new regulatory climate, this problem is being solved. I think we will start to feel this effect in 2026.”
Uniswap gained popularity after its investor-friendly proposal
Uniswap (UNI), the native token of the cryptographic protocol of the same name, surged earlier this month after the Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs unveiled a proposal to make the token more attractive as an investment.
Ideas submitted included a protocol-level fee mechanism to burn tokens and building a protocol-fee discount auction system to boost profits for liquidity providers.
Hougan said this is one of the most obvious examples of a token trying to capture value and predicts that if the proposal is adopted, it could propel UNI into the top 10 in terms of market capitalization in the future.
“The big surprise for UNI has always been that it is a governance token. Uniswap is great, but operating on Uniswap has not benefited UNI token holders,” he said.
“Except UNI is considering a fee change. If the vote passes, ~16% of transaction fees will be used to burn UNI. I suspect this will push UNI into a top 10 token by market cap over time.”
Fusaka’s update may cause Ether’s advantage to rebound
Hougan also pointed to the Fusako Ethereum upgrade as a catalyst that could “significantly increase token value capture.”
The Fusako update mainnet launch is expected in December and will include updates to the Ethereum runtime layer and improvements to the staking economy, among other things.
“I suspect the market will soon start to focus on the positive impact of Fusaka, especially if it delivers on December 3 as expected. This is an underappreciated catalyst and one of the reasons why ETH could lead the crypto rebound,” Hougan said.
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XRP staking rewards are also a boon
Hougan said Ripple’s XRP token (XRP) is also on track to boost its value capture with discussions about adding stacks.
“You’re seeing a growing focus on value capture in XRP as well. The community is starting to consider ideas like staking, which would change the economics for token holders,” he said.
“The connecting thread: the level of value capture in digital assets has only increased since then. I think people view token value capture as static. It’s not.”
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