Coinbase: Expanding liquidity, easing environment key for 2026 crypto market

Coinbase Institutional has identified a faster-than-expected expansion of liquidity as the key factor that will shape the crypto market in 2026, U.Today reports. The firm noted that the Federal Reserve's increase in reserves could potentially continue until April 2026, describing the recent 25 basis point interest rate cut and U.S. Treasury purchases as a form of "stealth quantitative easing." Coinbase also analyzed that the Fed is shifting from balance sheet reduction to a phase of net liquidity provision. It added that the Fed funds futures market is signaling two rate cuts totaling 50 basis points in the first nine months of 2026, creating a favorable environment for crypto. Meanwhile, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley commented that current trends are aligning for a bull market in 2026, adding that the four-year cycle theory has been effectively nullified. He also described 2025 as a bear market that was masked by buying from decentralized autonomous trusts (DATs) and corporations adding Bitcoin to their treasuries.