4 Things That Shocked Top Crypto Analysts in 2026 — And What They Actually Expected

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Two of crypto's most followed analysts — Benjamin Cowen of Into the Cryptoverse and Guy Turner of Coin Bureau — recently broke down their biggest surprises of 2026, and the list reveals just how unpredictable this market cycle has been. Cowen's standout shock is Bitcoin dominance trading almost completely sideways since August 2025, a behavior he says is unlike any midterm year in his research. Including stablecoins, the metric has barely moved for the better part of a year, defying the typical pattern where dominance either climbs sharply or rotates aggressively into altcoins. A related anomaly that caught him off guard was semiconductors ripping roughly 40% higher in just a few weeks — a move few had mapped out heading into the year.

Turner's biggest surprise comes from traditional markets. Despite an energy crisis, an oil supply crunch, and escalating Israel-Iran tensions that would historically crush risk assets, the S&P 500 has continued printing new highs — shrugging off geopolitical chaos that Turner says "definitely wouldn't have been on my bingo card." His explanation is that AI-driven capital flows have absorbed the damage, keeping equity markets resilient in a way that defies conventional macro logic. What neither analyst found surprising, however, was continued crypto hacks funneling money to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Turner bluntly noted he would not be surprised if the biggest hack of 2026 is still to come.

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People keep waiting for 2021 to repeat — but the structure of the market has clearly changed