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."

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.

On December 31, 2025, Trust Wallet said its Chrome extension was temporarily removed after a Chrome Web Store bug blocked a new release, slowing a verification tool for reimbursement claims. The company earlier confirmed a malicious v2.68 was distributed on December 25, identifying 2,520 drained addresses and roughly $8.5 million tied to 17 attacker wallets.

Turkmenistan has adopted a "Law on Virtual Assets" that legalizes cryptocurrency mining and exchange activity under central bank oversight, following its signing in late November and implementation on January 1, 2026. The framework introduces licensing, KYC/AML rules, and a ban on anonymous wallets, while keeping cryptocurrencies from being used as legal tender or for domestic payments despite the country's ample but grid-constrained electricity supply.

A creator token linked to YouTuber Nick Shirley on the Base network surged to a roughly $9 million fully diluted valuation before sliding to about $3 million by January 1, 2026. The coin, launched via Zora on Coinbase-backed layer-2 Base, drew intense hype after Shirley’s viral investigative video but then lost more than 60% of its value, raising doubts about whether creator coins can sustain long-term demand.

On December 31, 2025, Peter Schiff said on X that Strategy's 47.5% decline in 2025 would have made it the sixth-worst performer in the S&P 500, arguing its Bitcoin-focused approach hurt shareholders. The S&P 500 rose about 17.3% in 2025, while Strategy's stock finished down roughly 49.35% amid a second-half reversal. As of late December, it held 672,497 BTC at an average cost near $75,000.

Trump Media and Technology Group said it will distribute a new digital token to DJT shareholders through Crypto.com, with one token per whole share at a future record date. The firm emphasized the asset is not equity or a security and may be non-transferable, with utility across Truth Social, Truth+ and Truth Predict.

On December 30, 2025, Coinbase policy chief Faryar Shirzad warned on X that proposals to restrict rewards on U.S. dollar stablecoins risk undermining their appeal abroad. His comments followed the PBOC’s plan to let banks pay interest on digital yuan wallets from January 1, 2026, as the GENIUS Act and pending Senate talks revisit stablecoin incentives.

Lighter's LIT fell roughly 22.2% to around $2.62 after briefly reaching $4.04 as its airdrop distribution went live on Tuesday. Trading activity jumped, with 24-hour volume at 13.43 million, while analysis of 10,000 wallets indicated selling outweighed accumulation early in the distribution. Derivatives net flow readings also showed sustained downside pressure.