Ethereum DeFi Dominance in 2025: Deep Liquidity and Low Costs Power the Lead
Welcome to the Daily for Thursday, January 8, 2026. ☕️
Hello Cointribe! 🚀
Welcome to today’s market snapshot—January 8, 2026, and the key stories from the last 24 hours.
But first…
✍️ Cartoon of the day:
A quick look at the market…
🌡 Weather:
⛈️ Stormy
24h crypto recap! ⏱
✨ Tether’s New Approach to Gold Accessibility
Tether introduces Scudo, a digital platform designed to make investing in gold as seamless and approachable as buying Bitcoin. By combining blockchain technology with physical gold reserves, Scudo aims to bridge traditional assets and crypto markets. Users could soon manage gold holdings through familiar crypto interfaces, potentially reshaping retail and institutional investment habits.
🏦 Morgan Stanley Plans ETH Spot ETF With Staking
Morgan Stanley is exploring a new Ethereum spot ETF that incorporates staking rewards. This proposal could allow investors to gain ETH exposure while earning rewards typically reserved for validators. If approved, it would represent a pioneering step for institutional crypto investment and might redefine how traditional ETFs integrate digital assets.
👉 Read the full article
👟 Nike Exits the NFT Space
Nike is pulling back from the NFT market after facing a lawsuit from an investor. The company will halt NFT-related projects, signaling a reevaluation of digital asset strategies in fashion and retail. This move raises questions about the long-term role of NFTs in corporate branding and product engagement
👉 Read the full article
📊 MSCI Maintains Crypto-Exposed Companies in Indices
MSCI confirms it will keep companies with significant crypto holdings, known as DATCOs, in its global indices. This decision reassures institutional investors and allows continued integration of crypto-exposed firms into traditional markets, though the arrangement remains under observation.
👉 Read the full article
Crypto of the Day: Ripple XRP (XRP)
🧠 XRP Shows Mixed Daily Performance
XRP had been printing green daily closes since January 2, pointing to renewed upside momentum. That streak paused over the past two sessions, with the token closing in red, a move that appears linked to short-term profit-taking after a technical breakout.
XRP pushed above its long-standing descending trendline, a level that had capped price action for months. Support remains firm near $1.80, while $2.23 stands as immediate resistance. Momentum indicators remain constructive, with the RSI hovering near 61, suggesting buyers are still active without signs of exhaustion.
Rising Attention and ETF Activity
Market intelligence platform Santiment reports XRP is currently among the cryptocurrencies seeing the sharpest increases in online discussion, reflecting growing interest from both retail and institutional participants. This surge in attention aligns with consistent ETF inflows, reinforcing bullish sentiment.
Data from SoSoValue shows XRP products have recorded a cumulative total net inflow of $1.25B, alongside $58.92M in total value traded. Total net assets stand at $1.62B, representing 1.18% of XRP’s total market capitalization, based on figures as of January 6. Together, rising engagement and sustained capital inflows continue to support XRP’s broader market narrative.
📊 Real-Time Performance (CMC)
💵 Current price: $2.11
📉 24h change: -6.92%
💰 Market cap: $128.45B
🏅 CoinMarketCap rank: #4
🪙 Circulating supply: 60.67B XRP
📊 24h trading volume: $4.25B
🎩 Ethereum DeFi Dominance in 2025: Deep Liquidity and Low Costs Power the Lead
In 2025, Ethereum firmly strengthened its grip on decentralized finance (DeFi), with the Total Value Locked (TVL) in its ecosystem climbing to around $99 billion—a figure far larger than any competing Layer-1 blockchain. That massive locked capital highlighted Ethereum’s unmatched ability to host high-value DeFi activity and deep liquidity pools, drawing in both big traders and institutions.
📊 Liquidity and Accessibility Set Ethereum Apart
Ethereum’s liquidity advantage was stark: its DeFi TVL was more than nine times larger than the next biggest Layer-1 network, underscoring its role as the central hub for serious decentralized finance. Lower transaction costs—falling to their lowest levels in five years on the mainnet—with Layer-2 fees under $0.01 made DeFi more accessible to everyday users and boosted capital inflows.
⚙️ Upgrades and Broader Ecosystem Growth
Technical improvements like the Pectra and Fusaka upgrades enhanced wallet usability and network capacity, strengthening user experience across the Ethereum mainnet and Layer-2 networks. This contributed to robust activity in stablecoins and prediction markets, with trillions in stablecoin transactions and significant betting volumes moving through the ecosystem.
📈 Developer and Network Activity
Ethereum’s ecosystem remained vibrant in 2025, boasting millions of daily on-chain transactions and tens of thousands of active developers. This broad participation not only reinforced DeFi growth but also highlighted Ethereum’s central role in advancing decentralized applications and financial innovation.
🔮 Price Action Reflects Operational Strength
Ethereum’s market performance mirrored its infrastructure success. After hitting a record high around $4,953 in August 2025, ETH experienced volatility later in the year but recently moved above key resistance levels, suggesting potential for renewed upside if critical support holds.
Ethereum’s 2025 DeFi dominance wasn’t just about being the largest—it was about deep liquidity, dramatically lower fees, continuous upgrades, and a vast ecosystem that outpaced rivals by a significant margin, cementing its place as the cornerstone of decentralized finance this year.
