Rob Haddick, general partner at crypto-focused investment firm Dragonfly, appeared on CNBC's “Squawk Box” program and provided key insights on the current state of cryptocurrencies, predictions for 2026, and emerging technologies.
Haddick said the focus should be on long-term trends rather than short-term price fluctuations.
Haddick advised taking a “broad perspective” when responding to criticism of Bitcoin's performance this year. He reminded listeners that Bitcoin is up 26% since the day before the 2024 election and has doubled in value by 100% in the past two years, noting that this increase is comparable to and even outpacing traditional indexes such as the Nasdaq.
Haddick expects 2026 to be a “strong and constructive” year for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This optimism stems from improved monetary policy and increased global adoption of asset tokenization. Citing McKinsey data, Haddick said 3% of cross-border payments are already made in stablecoins, predicting that this number could increase tenfold in the short term.
One of the most memorable parts of the interview was about market predictions. Haddick noted that trading volumes on platforms like PolyMarket have grown from $50 million per month in early 2024 to about $4 billion today. Haddick argued that these markets would not be limited to politics or sports, but would find wide-ranging applications, such as insurance companies hedging weather risks, and said the sector's potential could be as great as that of traditional stock market giants (such as ICE).
Haddick also touched on the competition between Ethereum and Solana, believing that both ecosystems can survive and serve different use cases. He said Ethereum is more of a hub for “locked economic value” (TVL) and DeFi, while Solana is optimized for low-cost, high-volume transactions.
Haddick also said that technological innovation never stops, mentioning Monad, a new blockchain project in which Dragonfly is also an investor and has been dubbed the “Solana Killer.”
*This is not investment advice.
