Ethereum Forecast for 2026: Locked Value Could Increase Tenfold

Recently, with the increasing interest in cryptocurrencies, investors are eagerly tracking future opportunities. The Ethereum network continues to stand out with its current use cases and developments. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink, one of the companies holding the largest public Ethereum treasury, stated that the Ethereum ecosystem could record remarkable growth in the coming years.

Chalom predicted that the total value locked on the Ethereum network could increase tenfold by 2026, drawing attention to the growth of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. Sharplink Gaming holds approximately 797,704 Ethereum on its balance sheet, with a total value of about 2.3 billion dollars at current prices. According to Chalom, this scale could become a new standard for institutional players.

One of the CEO's strongest arguments was the growth in the stablecoin market. Chalom emphasized that the total stablecoin supply could reach 500 billion dollars by the end of 2026, representing an increase of over approximately %60 compared to current levels. Reminding that 54% of stablecoin transactions currently take place on the Ethereum network, Chalom asserted that this growth would reflect in the total value locked (TVL) data on the Ethereum network.

Chalom expects the market for tokenized real-world assets to reach a size of 300 billion dollars by 2026. The increasing interest from major financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Franklin Templeton, and BlackRock is among the key factors accelerating Ethereum's corporate use. Additionally, sovereign wealth funds are projected to increase their Ethereum investments and tokenization activities by 5 to 10 times in the coming year.

Chalom believes that on-chain artificial intelligence agents and prediction markets will add a new layer of value to the Ethereum ecosystem as they move into the mainstream. According to DeFiLlama data, the current TVL of Ethereum is around 68.2 billion dollars, and if Chalom's projected scenario occurs, this figure could present a much more remarkable picture by 2026.