It’s slim pickings in the crypto market right now, with nearly every cryptocurrency down 25% or more over the past 90 days. But if you’re willing to dig for bargains and hold your nose at the same time, it’s possible to come up with some potential blockbuster plays for 2026.

My favorite pick right now is Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET 0.25%), down 68% over the past 90 days, and more than 80% for the year. This is exactly the type of beaten-down cryptocurrency that could be ready to explode higher by 1,000% or more over the next 12 months.

Rules for picking 1,000% winners

In order for any cryptocurrency to soar 1,000% or more within a relatively short period of time, it needs to meet a few key criteria. First of all, it needs to be dirt cheap — that’s the only way to attract speculative retail money. So, as a first cutoff, let’s narrow our search to beaten-down cryptos trading for $1 or less.

Second, the cryptocurrency needs to be in a red-hot sector or backed by a red-hot investment thesis. Within the blockchain and crypto world, there are plenty of potential hot ideas to choose from, including real-world asset tokenization, stablecoins, and decentralized finance (DeFi).

But let’s face facts here: If you try explaining real-world asset tokenization or stablecoins to your friends and family over the winter holidays, you’ll probably be met with a very frosty reception. The investment narrative needs to be easy to grasp and easy to explain. And I can’t think of a better one right now than artificial intelligence (AI).

So let’s further narrow our search down to so-called AI coins. This was once a red-hot category, and includes some major names like Bittensor, Render, and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET 0.25%).

The case for buying Artificial Superintelligence Alliance

Of these AI coins, the only one that’s trading for less than a buck right now is Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (the cryptocurrency formerly known as Fetch.ai). It has a super-low discount price of $0.20 — almost as cheap as some meme coins. In order for FET to explode in price by 1,000%, all investors need it to do is hit a price of $2.20.

Today’s Change

(-0.25%) $-0.00

Advertisement

Current Price

$0.21

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$480M

Day’s Range

Advertisement

$0.20 – $0.21

52wk Range

$0.19 – $1.65

Volume

54M

Advertisement

Thankfully, it has already done that in the past. In March 2024, Artificial Superintelligence Alliance hit an all-time high of $3.47. So, getting back to a price level of $2.20 may not be as insurmountable as it seems at first.

Moreover, the crypto (via the involvement of Fetch.ai in the alliance) is at the forefront of the hot new field of agentic AI, so there’s plenty of long-term growth potential.

Just keep in mind that there’s a big reason the price of Artificial Superintelligence Alliance has cratered by nearly 95% over the past 18 months. Simply put, investors have given up on the “alliance” that was supposed to create the world’s foremost AI coin.

The multistep merger process that was supposed to result in a single token called ASI has gone on much longer than expected. It has also been much messier than many people expected. In October, Ocean Protocol — one of the three big AI players involved — finally pulled out of the alliance, and that sent the price of FET tumbling.

What can investors expect in 2026?

As recently as December 2024, the price of Artificial Superintelligence Alliance was around $2. That’s why I’m optimistic about a potential rebound in price in 2026. Crypto traders have likely overreacted and are now dumping this AI coin indiscriminately.

That being said, a 1,000% surge in price is by no means guaranteed. It’s quite possible that the price of Artificial Superintelligence Alliance could go to zero. So, buckle up now if you plan to invest in this AI coin — the path ahead is likely to be filled with turbulence and stomach-churning moves up and down.

North Korea remains dominant threat to cryptocurrency security in 2025, even while confirmed incidents have decreased, according to a report by blockchain analytics company Chainanlysis.

Hackers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) allegedly stole a record $2.02 billion of crypto this year — a 51% jump compared to 2024, and taking their all-time total to $6.75 billion, it added.

The analysis further found that the DRPK is achieving larger thefts with fewer incidents, using unique methods to gain access and pull off their heists.

North Korea’s alleged crypto heists: Here’s how they did it

As per the report, these hacks were often carried out in unique fashion by embedding IT workers inside crypto services or using sophisticated impersonation tactics targeting executives.

Embedding IT workers

This is among the DPRK’s “principal attack vectors”, the report said. It added that the hackers secured jobs inside crypto services to gain privileged access and enable high‑impact compromises.

“Part of this record year likely reflects an expanded reliance on IT worker infiltration at exchanges, custodians, and web3 firms, which can accelerate initial access and lateral movement ahead of large‑scale theft,” it noted.

Fake jobs

Further, taking the IT worker model and “flipping it on its head”, the analysis said that DPRK-linked operators are also increasingly impersonating recruiters for prominent web3 and AI firms. This way, they orchestrate fake hiring processes that culminate in “technical screens” designed to harvest credentials, source code, and VPN or SSO access to the victim’s current employer.

“At the executive level, a similar social‑engineering playbook appears in the form of bogus outreach from purported strategic investors or acquirers, who use pitch meetings and pseudo–due diligence to probe for sensitive systems information and potential access paths into high‑value infrastructure,” it added.

Higher- value attacks

Over the years, DPRK-linked operators are increasingly undertaking significantly higher-value attacks compared to other threat actors. “This pattern reinforces that when North Korean hackers strike, they target large services and aim for maximum impact,” the report added.

It noted that “this year’s record haul came from significantly fewer known incidents”, including the massive $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.

DPRK’s distinctive laundering patterns

Not just the hacking process, the laundering of stolen funds is also distinctive, the report said. It noted that more than 60% of laundering was of volume concentrated below $5,00,000 transfer value tranches, despite the total stolen amounts being larger.

“Even while the DPRK consistently steals larger amounts than other stolen fund threat actors, they structure on-chain payments in smaller tranches, speaking to the sophistication of their laundering,” it added.