The crypto week: when governance, performance, and traditional integrations converge towards a new balance

In recent days, the cryptocurrency market has experienced significant movements across multiple fronts simultaneously. From critical governance decisions of major DeFi protocols to performance verification of infrastructural systems, up to the acceleration of blockchain and traditional finance integration, the crypto landscape is undergoing a phase of structural transition that warrants in-depth attention.

Governance and Evolving Economic Models

The proposal to burn UNI: beyond simple token buyback

Hayden Adams has initiated the crucial “Unification” voting phase (from December 19 to 25), which involves burning 100 million UNI and simultaneously activating fee mechanisms on mainnet v2, v3, and Unichain. At the same time, the proposal introduces a Wyoming legal DUNA structure to better align Uniswap Labs with the protocol’s decentralized governance.

The international community is not debating “whether to burn or not,” but rather the substance of the transformation: some observers see it as a “governance optics” move designed to regain control of the agenda during critical moments, potentially weakening DAO independence. Conversely, supporters highlight the benefits of internalizing MEV and returning fees to token holders, considering it a necessary step toward building a self-sustaining token economy.

A more nuanced debate points out that Uniswap Labs has historically captured considerable economic value, unlike protocols like Aave that are gradually returning cash flows to governance. The proposal marks an inflection point in Uniswap’s economic model but also highlights the persistent issue of the intersection between Labs entities and decentralized structures in major DeFi projects.

The Lido paradox: high utilization, low token capitalization

Lido holds approximately 28% of the liquid staking share on Ethereum, with a TVL exceeding $26 billion, estimated annual revenues of around $75 million, and a treasury of about $170 million. However, the governance token LDO has experienced a significant contraction in market cap, falling below $500 million, drawing widespread criticism within the community.

The core question revolves around a fundamental inquiry: what valuation basis exists for a governance token that offers no direct dividends and does not directly capture the protocol’s cash flows? Some analysts argue that LDO’s intrinsic value is close to zero, given the lack of a direct link between protocol revenues and token holders. Others attribute the price decline to the downward adjustment of ETH staking APR, increasing competition in restaking, and expectations of market share erosion.

A provocative analogy compares Lido to the “Linux of the crypto ecosystem”: massive adoption but lacking mechanisms for value return. Bulls identify two potentially transformative variables: the scheduled buyback starting in Q1 2026 and structural changes from the v3 Ethereum ETF upgrade. The TVL-to-market-cap ratio of Lido has reached about 52:1, further highlighting the ongoing discrepancy between “critical infrastructure status” and “actual value capture capacity” in DeFi governance tokens.

Technical Challenges and Performance Verification

In the last 24 hours, the debate over Ethereum execution clients has highlighted fundamental issues. The new client Tempo claims to be “the fastest execution client,” but community tests have shown its actual performance to be roughly one-tenth that of Nethermind, raising significant doubts about the validity of such claims.

The controversy has expanded from a single project to a broader question: should communications about performance in node systems and Layer 2 ecosystems be based on marketing narratives or on rigorously reproducible data? Developers emphasize the importance of public benchmarks and verifiable operational environments, opposing vague or selective metrics. The infrastructure community is increasingly intolerant of “performance myths,” demanding discussions return to concrete, measurable engineering grounds.

Ecosystem Evolution and New Dynamics

Solana: entry of traditional players into the DePIN model

Fuse Energy, an energy company with recurring annual revenues (ARR) of $300 million, completed a Series B round of $70 million, with valuation increased to $5 billion. The company aims to accelerate commercialization through the DePIN model, improving overall operational efficiency.

This development is interpreted by some as evidence that mature companies with stable cash flows are systematically adopting DePIN structures, initiating a growth cycle via token incentives, reducing payment and geographic frictions, and lowering expansion costs. Spillover effects on the crypto industry could be significant in the coming years. However, other observers doubt that DePIN can concretely improve commercial efficiency, requiring validation through real-world execution. Overall, the event signals Solana’s ecosystem attractiveness for genuine commercial participants in the DePIN sector.

Ethereum: redesign of DEX fee structures and AI protocols

In the Ethereum DEX sector, recent data show that Curve has significantly increased its fee revenue share, sometimes surpassing Uniswap. While Uniswap’s share has decreased compared to the previous year, Curve has quickly rebounded from previous lows, representing an emblematic case of DeFi fee structure reconfiguration in 2025. However, the actual yields for veCRV holders have not kept pace, with a persistent structural discrepancy between governance tokens and protocol revenues.

Meanwhile, the ERC-8004 (Trustless Agents) protocol has been confirmed for launch on Ethereum mainnet on January 16. Proposed in August 2025, it aims to provide a decentralized trust layer for autonomous AI agents, enabling them to operate without pre-trusted entities and building an open agent economy. Drafted jointly by representatives from MetaMask, Ethereum Foundation, Google, and Coinbase, and promoted by the Ethereum Foundation’s dAI team, the protocol involved over 150 projects and a community of more than 1000 people. Some community members believe ERC-8004 represents Ethereum’s attempt to become the coordination hub for AI agents, though the balance between user experience, security, and decentralization remains to be verified post-launch.

Perp DEX: divergences on timing and buyback strategy

Uncertainty and divergence in Lighter’s TGE expectations

According to Polymarket data, the probability that Lighter will not conduct the TGE in 2025 has risen to 35%, with December 29, 2025, emerging as the most likely launch date. This probability has steadily increased since December 15, reaching 35% on December 18, with significant volatility reported.

The forecast has caused fractures within the community: some doubt the validity and interpretation of the information, others believe that in the current market context, there is no real incentive for a TGE within the year, considering a delay to early 2026 more reasonable. Additional voices point out that the end of December coincides with holidays and low market attention, making a token issuance potentially ineffective. Overall, the debate reflects considerable uncertainty and ongoing market oscillation.

Perpetuals: expansion of the Hyperliquid ecosystem in the perpetual sector

Perpetuals, a new project launched within the Hyperliquid (Hype) ecosystem, focuses on decentralized trading of perpetual contracts with innovations in leverage mechanisms and liquidity incentives. The community generally interprets it as an extension of Hype’s derivatives range and as a potential competitor to Lighter. Some analysts believe the project could integrate with Hype’s point system or cross-chain mechanisms, facilitating user migration and trading activity.

Buyback vs. growth: Hyperliquid’s strategic dilemma

Hyperliquid’s buyback strategy $HYPE has generated clear divisions. Some emphasize that Hyperliquid has invested approximately $1 billion in token buybacks, with limited long-term price impact, arguing that these funds should be allocated to compliance and creating competitive barriers, preparing for potential entry of traditional institutions like Coinbase, Robinhood, Nasdaq. They warn that buybacks could become a structural risk after 2026.

Others see buyback as one of the few certain tools in the current cycle, useful both for stabilizing token expectations and directly returning platform cash flows, creating a barrier against recession. An additional view suggests that buybacks and growth investments are not necessarily in conflict, but the key is balancing fund allocation. The debate reflects ongoing balancing in DeFi projects between “price stabilization” and “long-term expansion” under increasing competitive pressure.

Infrastructure and Integration with Traditional Finance

Mainnet Frontier of MegaETH: from testing to production environment

MegaETH announced the official opening of its Frontier mainnet to developers and projects. The network, active for several weeks, was initially tested by infrastructural teams such as LayerZero, EigenDA, Chainlink, RedStone, Alchemy, Safe, and now supports broader stress testing and unlocks initial real-time applications. The platform has integrated exploration tools like Blockscout, Dune, Growthepie, and community visualization solutions like MiniBlocksIO and Swishi. This step is seen as the crucial moment “from operational testing to real load,” with some emphasizing that maintaining high-performance chains still depends on oracles and data infrastructure adapting accordingly.

Stablecoins: acceleration of blockchain and traditional banking system integration

SoFiUSD: the first retail stablecoin launched by a national bank

SoFi Bank announced the launch of SoFiUSD, a full-reserve stablecoin, becoming the first national retail bank authorized to issue stablecoins on a public permissionless blockchain. Positioned as settlement infrastructure for banks, fintechs, and enterprise platforms, SoFiUSD is initially used for internal settlements, with plans for gradual opening to all SoFi users. Community discussion focuses on both product-market fit and infrastructural significance: rebuilding settlement flows via the Galileo engine, enabling instant 24/7 settlements, reducing prefinancing and reconciliation costs, and generating yields through US Treasury investments.

Visa: escalation from experiment to market scale

Visa revealed that the annualized scale of its stablecoin regulation pilot reached $3.5 billion, moving from proof-of-concept to an observable market signal. The company also announced two initiatives: launching a global stablecoin consulting service via Visa Consulting & Analytics, and supporting US issuers and acquirers for 24/7 regulation via USDC from Circle and the Visa network, with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank already operational and more institutions planned for 2026. The community highlights the impact of this model on programmable fund management and liquidity efficiency.

Synergistic collaboration between PYUSD and USDAI: toward stablecoin interoperability

PayPal and USDAI issuers announced a strategic partnership to improve interoperability and overall liquidity among stablecoins. Potential cooperation areas include cross-chain transfers, shared liquidity pools, or integration into payment scenarios. Community interpretation emphasizes how such partnerships reduce friction costs between stablecoins across ecosystems, promoting their synergistic use in DeFi and payment systems, signaling the sector’s evolution from point-to-point competition toward collaborative and integrative alliances shaping the next cycle’s blockchain infrastructure.