Amid fresh geopolitical tensions and trade wars, we asked MEXC Chief Operating Officer Vugar Usi Zade about the crypto outlook for 2026 and whether Bitcoin is now becoming a Geopolitical Weapon.
In an exclusive chat with 99Bitcoins.com, Vugar said, “I do not see 2026 as a simple cooling-off period. Rather, it appears more accurately described as a phase of consolidation within a broader structural expansion.”
“Bitcoin is moving beyond the reflexive, halving-driven cycles that defined its earlier history and into a more mature phase shaped primarily by fundamentals. Institutional participation, most visibly through exchange-traded funds, has become the dominant marginal source of demand, eclipsing miner issuance as a meaningful supply factor. Price formation is therefore increasingly driven by balance-sheet allocation decisions rather than by mechanical scarcity events,” said the Former Bitget COO.
Explore: 99Bitcoins’ Q4 2025 State of Crypto Market Report
“Fiat Currencies Are Steadily Losing Purchasing Power”
“Regulatory clarity achieved over the past year has further reduced barriers to participation for both institutions and retail investors. As a result, Bitcoin is gradually shedding its reputation as a high-beta risk asset and assuming a clearer role as a monetary hedge. Periods that may appear to be “cooling off” often reflect a different reality: not that Bitcoin is losing relevance, but that fiat currencies are steadily losing purchasing power.”
Against that backdrop, I expect Bitcoin to reach new all-time highs by mid-2026. Conservatively, I see prices approaching the $200,000 level, with an upper bound closer to $250,000 should macroeconomic stress intensify and capital rotation into scarce assets accelerate.
“It is important to frame these projections in currency terms. In 2025, the US dollar lost approximately 9–11 per cent against a basket of major currencies and more than 15 per cent against the euro. At times, Bitcoin’s rising dollar price is less an expression of speculative excess than a real-time indicator of the erosion of fiat purchasing power. In that sense, Bitcoin is often repricing currencies rather than appreciating in isolation.”
“Looking further ahead, Bitcoin’s significance is less about near-term price levels and more about its function within the global financial system. As stablecoins increasingly establish themselves as a transaction layer, Bitcoin is emerging as the value layer, the reference asset. From that perspective, 2026 does not mark the end of an expansionary phase, but rather a period in which Bitcoin’s role as a neutral, global monetary standard becomes more clearly embedded.”
Read More: 99Bitcoins Interview: CSO of MEXC on Alt Season & Tokenization Trends
How will current geopolitical tensions impact the crypto ecosystem?
Geopolitical tensions are no longer a background risk for the crypto ecosystem; they are now one of its primary drivers.
“Crypto adoption has historically accelerated in moments of economic stress rather than during periods of stability. In countries such as Türkiye, Argentina and across much of Latin America, digital assets are not adopted out of ideological preference but out of necessity, driven by inflation, capital controls and political volatility. Recent events in Iran, where demand for Bitcoin surged amid renewed instability, fit the same pattern. When access to reliable money is constrained, crypto becomes a practical alternative rather than a speculative one.”
“What has changed in recent years is the strategic dimension of this trend. As sanctions, frozen reserves and financial exclusion become standard tools of geopolitics, both individuals and states are reassessing their dependence on legacy financial infrastructure. In that context, a borderless and politically neutral ledger begins to function not merely as an alternative payment system, but as a hedge against sovereign risk itself.”
“Bitcoin is seen a strategic reserve asset with geopolitical implications”
“Speculation surrounding Venezuela is illustrative. Estimates that the country may control as much as 600,000 BTC, whether ultimately proven or not, have pushed Bitcoin firmly into the conversation around sovereign assets. The parallel debate over whether such holdings could, in a future enforcement scenario, be seized by the United States and retained as part of newly established national crypto reserves underscores a deeper shift: Bitcoin is no longer viewed solely as private capital, but increasingly as a strategic reserve asset with geopolitical implications.”
“Crypto is also intersecting directly with national security. The 2025 Bybit hack, widely linked to North Korean state-backed actors, demonstrated how digital assets now sit at the crossroads of cyber warfare, sanctions evasion and intelligence operations. This reinforces the reality that Bitcoin has become a matter of state concern, not just market regulation.”
History offers a useful parallel. Much as the oil shocks of the 1970s reshaped global power structures and capital flows, Bitcoin is being drawn into today’s competition over financial sovereignty.
“States are seeking to secure monetary independence in a world where traditional financial rails can be weaponised. In that environment, Bitcoin’s neutrality, its resistance to censorship and political control, emerges as a strategic strength rather than a liability.”
“Geopolitics, therefore, is no longer an external factor shaping crypto’s trajectory; it is the arena in which that trajectory is now unfolding. Far from undermining the crypto ecosystem, current global tensions are accelerating its evolution from a niche innovation into a structural component of the emerging financial order.”
“Artificial Intelligence is also becoming a core layer of MEXC”
“We see 2026 as the point at which capital markets move decisively on-chain. Crypto will no longer sit alongside traditional finance; it will increasingly absorb and re-express it. Against that backdrop, MEXC is evolving from a list-first crypto exchange into a gateway for global opportunity, one that gives users access not only to digital assets, but to tokenised equities, commodities and other real-world assets as they migrate on-chain. This is not an incremental extension of our product set, but a strategic shift in how market access itself is structured.”
“A core pillar of that strategy remains zero-fee trading. We pioneered zero fees in crypto because we believe that genuine innovation lowers friction rather than monetising it. In 2026, that principle extends across additional asset classes. Zero fees are not a short-term incentive; they are a structural commitment to democratising access, resetting industry norms and allowing users to retain more of the value they create. As markets become increasingly global and continuous, cost efficiency becomes a form of competitiveness in its own right.”
In 2026, we are deepening our global footprint by investing in leadership, opening physical hubs—particularly in the Middle East—and strengthening our research and operational presence worldwide.
“Artificial intelligence is also becoming a core layer of the platform, embedded across user experience and market intelligence. The goal is not automation for its own sake, but smarter access, personalised, contextual, and responsive to how markets actually move.”
About MEXC
Founded in 2018, MEXC expanded its user base to more than 40 million users across 170+ markets. The platform consistently ranks among the world’s most liquid and fastest-growing exchanges.
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