Weekly DeFi Index

This week, the price and volume indices increased by +10.42% and +45.19%, respectively, while the volatility index dropped by -42.14%.

• Synthetix (SNX) significantly brought its core operations back to the Ethereum mainnet with the launch of its perpetual futures decentralised exchange (DEX). The new DEX utilises a hybrid central limit order book (CLOB) system to ensure efficient trading while maintaining on-chain settlement.
• Uniswap’s DAO overwhelmingly approved the ‘UNIfication’ proposal, marking a key milestone in the DEX’s evolution by switching protocol fees to a token buyback and burn mechanism. The decision will result in the burning of 100 million UNI tokens and redirection of fee revenue toward token holders. This shift aims to reduce circulating supply and enhance value accrual for UNI holders, aligning with broader DeFi trends emphasising sustainable tokenomics.

Chart of the Week

Ethereum's staking entry queue surpassed the exit queue for the first time in six months, with 745,619 ETH waiting to be validated compared to 360,518 ETH in the exit queue, according to the Ethereum Validator Queue. This shift, which occurred on 27 December 2025, is attributed to increased institutional staking activity, particularly from digital asset treasury firms like BitMine, which staked 342,560 ETH in two days. The Pectra upgrade could also be a contributing factor, by improving staking efficiency. At time of writing, the exit queue is almost zero, potentially reducing sell pressure on ETH.

News Highlights

• Morgan Stanley filed with the US SEC to launch its own spot bitcoin and solana ETFs, marking a significant shift from distributing third-party crypto products to creating in-house digital asset vehicles.
• Jupiter, a Solana-based DEX aggregator, launched JupUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin developed with Ethena Labs and backed primarily by USDtb, which is collateralised by BlackRock’s tokenised money market fund BUIDL. 90% of JupUSD’s reserves are held in USDtb, with 10% in USDC as a liquidity buffer.
• Lighter, an Ethereum-based L-2 perpetuals exchange, launched its native token, Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT), to unify traders, builders, and investors. The token supply is split evenly between the ecosystem (50%) and the team/investors (50%), with 25% of the fully diluted value distributed via an airdrop to early participants who converted 12.5 million points earned in 2025.
• Hyperliquid introduced two new pre-alpha features: portfolio margin and BLP Earn vaults. Portfolio margin allows users to unify spot and perpetual trading accounts to improve capital efficiency. BLP Earn enables users to earn yield on stablecoins or borrow against HYPE tokens to increase purchasing power.
• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin claimed that Ethereum is solving the blockchain trilemma through PeerDAS and Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) technologies, achieving decentralisation, security, and scalability simultaneously. PeerDAS was introduced in the Fusaka upgrade to enable Ethereum to handle significantly more data. zkEVMs remain in alpha and expected to see small-scale network use in 2026.
• Starknet, an Ethereum L2 network, experienced a four-hour outage that disrupted operations on 5 January. The issue stemmed from inconsistencies in transaction processing and verification, leading the team to deploy a software fix and roll back the network to stabilise it.
• Flow, a L1 blockchain, reversed its plan to roll back the network following a $3.9 million exploit, after ecosystem partners warned that a full rollback would undermine decentralisation and create operational risks. Instead, Flow will restart from the last sealed block before the attack, preserving legitimate transaction history while using account restrictions and token destruction to address fraudulent assets.

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