Elon Musk is bringing SpaceX to market, a Swifty surge in birth-rates, and skinny dogs are 'predicted' events coming in 2026.
At least, these are some of the “outrageous predictions"put forward by the team at Saxo Bank for 2026. Now, this annual end-of-year text is not a regular piece of analysis; rather, it's the bank's speculative ideas that, as it says, are possible but improbable scenarios.
But, in the festive downtime, let's take a closer look at the bank's interesting predictions.
Saxo's predictions include the "early" arrival of Q-Day in 2026, where a working quantum computer compromises existing encryption - an event that Saxo imagines could trigger a crypto crash, bank runs, and gold surging towards US$10,000.
Another 'outrageous' scenario put forward by the bank sees the global economy receiving a lift from a celebrity wedding, with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sparking a lifestyle shift among fans. Saxo speculates this could drive a rise in marriage and birth rates, reducing screen time and lifting housing-related sectors.
A Fortune 500 firm naming an AI as its CEO is another big 'prediction' among the predictions; another is a suggested evolution in weight loss therapies in which GLP-1 treatments are targeted at pets.
Elsewhere, Saxo imagines SpaceX is listed publicly, resulting in the largest IPO valuation in history and igniting a speculative rush for lunar land plots.
“These are not forecasts – they’re our annual exercise in out-of-the-box brainstorming on the kinds of crazy things that might just come true,” Saxo said in the report.
Saxo says its annual exercise is designed to challenge assumptions and to create end-of-year talking points for investors.