Dexter became the largest daily facilitator for x402 transactions from December 11, according to data published by Hashed Official. The AI protocol has processed over 19.8 million total payments, 14 million fewer than Base. Charts indicate Dexter now handles roughly half of daily volume while Coinbase's share ranges from one-quarter to one-third.

In late 2025 and early 2026, Coinbase came under renewed fire from Base ecosystem traders and developers, who accused the exchange of "corporate double-speak" over how it lists tokens and backs projects. Critics pointed to Coinbase's initial reluctance to list Base-native tokens, its preference for Solana meme coins, and uneven support for ventures like Arcadia and Giza, while CEO Brian Armstrong defended the firm's reliance on DEX integrations and positioned Coinbase as an "everything exchange."

A well-known crypto trader argues that 2026 is not the window for a $1,000 XRP price, even as long-term upside remains on the table. The debate followed a widely circulated forecast highlighted by Uphold that envisions $1,000 by 2030. Commentator Pharaoh also ruled out 2025 and 2026, aligning with Don Kwok’s caution against short-term hype.

Bitcoin approached $90,000 into the first U.S. trading session of 2026, with a fresh CME futures gap and long‑liquidation clusters near $88,000 signaling potential downside. Liquidity and cross‑crypto liquidations exceeded $200 million ahead of the Wall Street open. Gold rebounded after its New Year's Eve dip, edging back toward all‑time highs and highlighting 2025's divergence.

Dogecoin has surged more than 9% in the past day to reach $0.13, while the broader meme coin market value has climbed about 8% to nearly $40 billion and trading volumes have risen over 32%. At the same time, the meme-focused Maxi Doge token has attracted almost $4.5 million in its ongoing presale, offering 71% APY staking and a token price of $0.000276 as it targets highly leveraged traders.

On January 1, 2026, the Flow Foundation reported it had progressed its $3.9 million exploit recovery into a second phase, including a plan to restore EVM functionality while continuing Cadence fixes. The network resumed block production on January 2, 2026, but scrutiny has intensified over a centralized exchange account that moved about 150 million FLOW and withdrew over $5 million shortly after the attack. FLOW's price has dropped 53.3% in the past week, and the network’s DeFi TVL has declined to around $72.1 million.

In December 2025, centralized exchanges experienced a sharp slowdown across spot and derivatives, with spot volumes falling 32% versus November. Reported trading activity ranged between $990M and $1.13B, according to different accounts. DEX volumes improved late in the year and remained higher than January levels, though still below October's peak.

TSMC shares rose 2.74% in premarket trading to $312.25 at 7:16 AM EST on January 2, 2026, after the U.S. Department of Commerce granted an annual license to import chipmaking equipment for its Nanjing facility. The decision follows the expiration of TSMC's validated end-user status on December 31, 2025 and ensures continued operations.