DEX

In January 2026, decentralized exchanges on multiple chains processed more than $278B in trading volume, marking their strongest January in at least five years. While volumes remain below the absolute 2022 peak, activity on networks such as Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain and Base has surged, with Base alone reaching up to $3.39B in daily trades driven largely by Uniswap and Aerodrome.

The SEC and CFTC will host a joint event at CFTC headquarters to advance regulatory harmonization for digital assets, led by Chairs Paul Atkins and Michael Selig. The initiative targets overlapping rules and seeks clearer oversight aligned with the current administration’s crypto agenda.

On Thursday, the SEC and CFTC said their chairs, Paul Atkins and Michael Selig, will convene an event on Tuesday to discuss harmonizing crypto oversight. The move comes as Senate committees work on market-structure legislation, with recent drafts adding restrictions on stablecoin yields and decentralized finance, prompting Coinbase to withdraw its support.

An address identified as Ethereum whale 0x761F2F reappeared after more than three months of inactivity by withdrawing 5,099 ETH, worth about $15.17 million, from Kraken and immediately staking it through Lido for stETH. The move took place while ETH was trading near a support area around $2,939–$2,943, concentrating almost the wallet's entire balance into staked ETH and signaling a long-term positioning in the staking ecosystem.

On January 22, 2026, Bitwise said the crypto market likely set a bear‑market bottom in Q4 2025, citing stronger fundamentals despite weak prices. The firm highlights record on‑chain activity, rising sector revenues, and stablecoins surpassing $300 billion in market cap, drawing parallels to early 2023.

On January 22, 2026, 1inch said Rewardy Wallet added its Swap API, allowing swaps across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base, Arbitrum and Optimism without holding native gas tokens. Fees can be paid in RWD via EIP-7702, aiming to streamline DeFi activity and cut failures linked to insufficient gas balances.

In 2026, ten browser extensions anchor everyday Web3 activity across wallets, trading, research, and security. The lineup spans MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, Brave Wallet, Uniswap Extension, Rabby, DeFiLlama, Wallet Guard, and 1inch, reflecting user priorities around adoption, protection, and DeFi features. Highlights include large user bases, multi-chain support, embedded security scans, and advanced DEX aggregation.

Ripple’s U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD has been officially listed on Binance, where it will initially trade on Ethereum with XRP Ledger support to follow. Binance is launching XRP/RLUSD and RLUSD/USDT pairs and plans to add RLUSD to its Earn products, while RLUSD’s market cap has recently moved above $1.3 billion amid growing institutional DeFi use.

On January 20, 2026, an analysis argued that in 2025 and early 2026 most bridge losses stemmed from overwhelmed operators and validator coordination, not exotic exploits. Nine figure sums vanished within minutes as funds moved through privacy tools and DEXs before alarms fully registered. The piece stresses that design and operations, not just code, defined outcomes.

On January 18, 2026, a Trove builder said the project would pivot from Hyperliquid to Solana. On January 19, 2026, Trove stated it would retain $9,397,403 from its ICO, and minutes after launch the TROVE token fell more than 95%. The sale raised over $11.5 million and some refunds have been issued.