VanEck CEO Jan van Eck noted in a CNBC interview that this price action is comprehensive, spanning the entire ecosystem rather than just Bitcoin. He emphasized, however, that this is merely a one-day rally, making it premature to draw far-reaching conclusions.
He pointed out that the surge could be partly driven by geopolitical expectations. If the situation involving Iran is resolved, good-faith actors are highly likely to route funds through crypto payment infrastructure in friendly hubs like the UAE and Dubai, avoiding weak, financially unstable Iranian banks that operate without external oversight.
“This is just one possible hypothesis amid a single-day movement,” van Eck clarified.
He specifically highlighted the explosive growth in the stablecoin sector. Over the past week, stablecoin volumes have surged by roughly 55%, serving as a key driver for the broader crypto market's revival.
Discussing longer-term trends, van Eck dubbed 2026 the era of the corporate blockchain wars. Financial heavyweights like JP Morgan, Circle, and Coinbase are increasingly developing their own closed networks. They are drawn to the core advantages of blockchain technology: 24/7 operations, transaction transparency, and cross-collateralization capabilities.
Unlike decentralized ecosystems such as Ethereum and Solana, these networks remain strictly under corporate control.
“Hardcore crypto enthusiasts do not want to be locked inside corporate ecosystems, but this segment is exactly where the key competitive struggle is unfolding right now, primarily around stablecoins,” the analyst noted.
Despite the current bounce, Bitcoin remains more than 50% below its peak from October of last year. Van Eck ties this dynamic to two fundamental factors: the hard-capped supply of 21M coins and the halving cycle, which cuts miner rewards in half every four years.
He noted that, historically, the Bitcoin investment cycle consists of three years of growth followed by a sharp decline in the fourth year. In this context, 2026 aligns perfectly with a bear market scenario.
Still, van Eck sees the current uptick as a signal that the market may be in the process of bottoming out.
“There is no need to overcomplicate what is happening. We are likely observing the first signs of life after a prolonged downturn,” he concluded.