In November, Infinex and Synthetix founder Kain Warwick wagered at 10:1 odds with Kyle Samani that Ether would reach $25,000 by the end of 2025, leaving him owing $50,000 after the target was missed. Ether instead finished Dec. 31 at about $2,980 after an October downturn, and Warwick has now revised his 2026 goal to a more modest $10,000, while other analysts had also floated year-end targets around $10,000.

Filecoin (FIL) climbed more than 13% to trade near $1.46 as trading volume surged ahead of its Onchain Cloud mainnet launch scheduled for January 2026. With participation rising and price breaking out of a recent base, traders are watching whether the upgrade-driven momentum can carry FIL toward the $1.60–$1.70 range.

Avalanche (AVAX) jumped more than 11% to trade near $13.57 after Grayscale’s updated ETF filing introduced staking rewards, raising optimism around regulated, yield-generating exposure to the token. With volume surging and a confirmed technical breakout, AVAX is holding key support above $12.85 as traders eye a potential move toward the $14.30–$14.80 range.

On January 1, 2026, XDC Network’s token climbed CoinMarketCap’s rankings, finishing 2025 by overtaking Official Trump, Filecoin and MYX Finance and moving just behind Algorand, Polygon, Arbitrum and Ondo. The chain has crossed $717 million in tokenized real-world assets, holds over $132 million in USDC with nearly $200 million in total stablecoin liquidity, and could see its DeFi ecosystem expand further if the CLARITY Act clears the US Senate.

As 2026 begins, Solana faces a split view: according to TradingView, SOL ended 2025 down 35% and has marked four lower lows, the latest near $120 since September. On the other hand, DeFiLlama data shows RWA value on Solana at a record $800 million, up 325% from the start of 2025, fueling projections that mention a potential $400 by year end.

In December, tokenized RWA value on Solana rose nearly 10% to a record $873.3 million, with holders up 18.4% to 126,236. Six spot Solana ETFs have gathered $765 million in inflows, and Western Union selected Solana for stablecoin settlements, setting up additional momentum as 2026 begins.

On January 1, unusual activity in low-liquidity meme coin BROCCOLI(714) on Binance sparked a rapid spike and reversal. Pseudonymous trader Vida said he capitalized on order book anomalies and alert signals to net around $1 million. Lookonchain initially said the pattern was consistent with a market maker account compromise, but a Binance internal review reportedly found no clear evidence of hacking.

Coinbase is opposing U.S. efforts to ban interest on stablecoins, arguing that strict enforcement of the GENIUS Act could drive users toward foreign digital currencies. The exchange warns that China’s plan to offer yield on the digital yuan from January 2026 may undermine the appeal of dollar-based stablecoins if U.S. rules block all forms of rewards. Banking groups, meanwhile, want regulators to treat interest-bearing stablecoin products like savings accounts and close any remaining loopholes.