Crypto Market Slumps in Q2, But Bright Spots Emerge

The crypto market had a tough quarter in Q2 2026, with the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index falling 15.4%. Eight out of its 10 constituents were in the red. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw their worst quarter of outflows on record.

Onchain activity, trading volume, and DeFi assets all slipped during this period. However, there were some bright spots: prediction market volume hit a record $43.2 billion in Q2, almost 18x higher than a year ago. Tokenized real-world assets climbed 50.3% to $32.89 billion.

Crypto equities held up, with the Bitwise Crypto Innovators 30 Index rising 30.6%. Stablecoins are out-settling Visa by 2.3x and now hold more U.S. Treasuries than most countries. Revenue leaders in crypto apps emerged: Hyperliquid, PancakeSwap, and Aave each generated ~$900M in revenue over the past year.