Happy New Year! Let's keep building in 2026!

Just after New Year's Day, it's time to review the key developments in the Web3 space this week. There are many market hotspots; let's go through them one by one.

**Macroeconomic Impact**

The Federal Reserve's December FOMC meeting minutes have just been released, highlighting their growing concern about a potential "freezing" risk in the short-term funding markets. A more direct indicator is that the Fed's SRF (Overnight RRP Facility) demand has surged to $75 billion, a new all-time high. The liquidity pressure at the end of the year is indeed intensifying, affecting the entire financial market including cryptocurrencies.

Another policy signal is Turkmenistan's announcement of legalizing crypto mining and trading, though they explicitly ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a direct means of payment. Additionally, media reports suggest Iran may be accepting cryptocurrencies for foreign arms sales. While such news is controversial, it reflects the actual demand for crypto assets in international settlements.

**Market Data Highlights**

Ethereum broke the $3000 threshold this week, with different data sources showing gains between 0.43% and 0.84%. On-chain data indicates that Ethereum net inflow to a major exchange reached 24,500 ETH, a new high since July—often a sign that some large investors are positioning or institutions are reducing their holdings.

In the past 24 hours, the total liquidations across the network reached $202 million, with about 69% of them being long positions—indicating many traders chasing high positions haven't yet profited. XRP continues to be a hot topic; despite many positive developments in 2025, it hasn't broken the psychological $5 mark, and now everyone is speculating whether 2026 will bring a breakthrough.

Tether also made some new moves—buying 8,888.8888888 BTC in Q4, worth a significant amount. The precise digital figures seem to be deliberately designed with meaning.

**Token Unlocks and Projects**

ENA is unlocking approximately 40.63 million tokens this week, valued at $8.6 million; 2Z is unlocking 13.97 million tokens, accounting for 4.024% of circulating supply. Both projects' unlocks are not insignificant and could impact prices.

On the DeFi fee revenue leaderboard, Meteora, Jupiter, and Uniswap led in 2025, each generating over $1 billion in annual fee income—indicating strong trading depth and user stickiness for these mainstream DEXs.

**Technical and Network Aspects**

UniSat has fixed the Runes index issue, and related functions have been restarted. However, the Flow network experienced a shutdown that led to NFT lending defaults, prompting Flowty to suspend loan settlements—highlighting the importance of infrastructure stability.

Vitalik Buterin recently spoke again, emphasizing that for Ethereum to truly become the "world computer," it must double down on usability and decentralization. This is a response to ongoing community concerns about Ethereum's scalability.

**Expectations for 2026**

Regarding crypto ETFs, the regulatory environment may become more favorable, but this also means increased competition and product launches. The entry barrier for mainstream institutions is lowering, but retail investors' profit margins are being squeezed.

Overall, the start of 2026 presents mixed signals—policy warmth, market volatility, technological progress, and risks to watch out for. Stay tuned as we navigate the bull and bear markets together.