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Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain led L1 roles across speculation, settlement, and scale. Ethereum became a settlement while L2s like Base handled high volume and cheaper execution. Stablecoins, privacy chains, and performance L1s grew, driving fragmented niche usage. In 2025, global Layer 1 blockchain activity shifted despite weak token prices across major markets. Trading concentrated on Solana, BNB Chain, and Ethereum while stablecoins, privacy networks, and performance chains drove usage. These developments were driven by speculation, scaling limits, and rising demand for cheaper settlement. Speculation Concentrates on High-Throughput Chains Speculation shaped most retail activity in 2025, especially through memecoin trading on fast and cheap blockchains. Solana and BNB Chain handled much of this volume because they offer quick transactions and strong liquidity. In January, Solana’s decentralized exchange trading hit a record high, largely fueled by the TRUMP and MELANIA tokens. Those two memecoins accounted for about 48.5% of Solana’s January DEX activity. Pump.fun alone generated roughly 23% of Solana’s year-to-date application revenue. Because of this, launchpads played a key role in Solana’s activity during the height of speculation. But their influence dropped once memecoin hype cooled later in the year. Source: The Block Ethereum and BNB Chain then regained a larger share of DEX trading, leading to a more balanced market by mid-2025. This shift showed that Solana depended heavily on short bursts of speculative interest rather than a wide range of steady activity. BNB Chain, however, developed along a different path. Technical upgrades, including the Lorentz and Maxwell hard forks, reduced block times from three seconds to 0.75 seconds. These changes allowed the network to handle sudden activity spikes more efficiently. At the same time, cultural momentum redirected speculative flows toward BNB Chain-native platforms. Four.meme accounted for roughly 21.8% of BNB Chain’s year-to-date application revenue. Around this activity, DeFi usage consolidated around projects like Aster and Lista DAO. Ethereum and Its Settlement Role While speculation moved elsewhere, Ethereum strengthened its role as a settlement and data layer. Total value locked across Ethereum-based DeFi peaked above $97.5 billion during the year. Notably, Ethereum’s transaction count reached record levels, even as usage shifted toward Layer 2 networks. Base processed more than 3.3 billion transactions year-to-date, compared with roughly 473 million on the Ethereum mainnet. This divergence reflected Ethereum’s rollup-first roadmap. The Pectra hard fork reinforced this direction through execution and consensus upgrades. At the same time, mainnet fees dropped sharply. Average transaction costs fell from about $7.25 on January 1 to nearly $0.19 later in the year. These levels matched prices last seen in early 2020. Lower fees supported Ethereum’s function as a settlement layer rather than a high-frequency execution venue. Consequently, Ethereum absorbed value while pushing activity outward to Layer 2s. This structure allowed Ethereum to scale without directly competing on throughput. Stablecoins and Specialized L1s Shape 2026 Outlook Stablecoins became the biggest source of activity across major blockchains in 2025. Their total market value grew by about 45%, helped by more than $90 billion in new supply. This expansion supported things like memecoin trading, perpetual markets, prediction platforms, and increased use by institutions. Stablecoin balances on Solana jumped roughly 159% over the year, boosted by $4.5 billion in new USDC issued early on. Hyperliquid saw about 118% growth, mainly linked to higher perpetual futures trading. Aptos and Polygon also recorded strong gains of 142% and 76%, driven by BUIDL-related deployments. At the same time, new blockchains built specifically around stablecoins began to appear. These stablecoin-focused networks raised over $548 million in disclosed funding during 2025. Plasma quickly became the eighth-largest Layer 1 by stablecoin supply within three months of launch. Although Plasma’s activity later declined, new entrants continued to test the model. Stable launched in December, while Circle’s Arc and Stripe–Paradigm’s Tempo remained in testnet. These networks focused on compliance features, simplified fees, and on-chain foreign exchange. Related: The Role of Layer 1 Blockchains in the Crypto Ecosystem Specialization extended beyond stablecoins. Privacy-focused networks gained attention after Monero’s hashrate disruption involving Qubic. Following that episode, Zcash posted a 661% year-to-date increase, briefly surpassing Monero in market capitalization. Zcash’s integration with NEAR Protocol enabled cross-chain private transactions with selective disclosure. Shielded supply rose from about 9% in January to nearly 24% in November. At the same time, performance-focused chains like Monad and Fogo targeted lower latency trading through parallel execution and optimized validators. As 2026 gets closer, the main blockchain networks are starting to serve more specific purposes instead of all trying to do the same thing. Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Zcash, Plasma, Monad, and others each settled into clearer roles in 2025, whether that was for trading, payments, privacy, speed, or stablecoin activity. Overall, the system became more spread out and specialized, shaped by how people actually use these networks instead of just following price trends. Disclaimer: The information provided by CryptoTale is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always conduct your own research and consult with a professional before making any investment decisions. CryptoTale is not liable for any financial losses resulting from the use of the content. Tags Ethereum (ETH) News Solana (SOL) News Stablecoin News

Jay Yu, junior partner at Pantera Capital, made 12 predictions about crypto trends in 2026, including: · Capital-efficient consumer credit: Launching simple lending applications through on-chain/off-chain credit modeling, modular design, and AI behavior learning. · Differentiation of prediction markets: Prediction markets split into financial direction (integrated with DeFi, leveraged) and cultural direction (community-driven, long-tail enthusiasts). · Agent commerce and x402 expansion: Agent commerce uses x402 endpoint expansion for micropayments and regular payments, with Solana surpassing Base in low transaction volume. · AI as a crypto interface layer: AI-assisted trading (such as trend analysis) becomes mainstream, gradually integrated into consumer applications. · Rise of tokenized gold: Tokenized gold becomes an important asset of RWA (real-world assets), chosen as a store of value due to the dollar issue. · Bitcoin quantum panic: Quantum technology breakthroughs trigger institutional discussions on Bitcoin’s quantum resistance, though technology has not yet threatened its value. · Unified privacy development experience: Privacy technologies (such as Ethereum’s Kohaku) provide simplified development interfaces, possibly launching privacy as a service. · Integration of DAT: Digital asset trading platforms (DAT) consolidate to 2-3 per major market, achieved through clearing or mergers. · Rethinking token and equity separation: Governance token crises prompt companies to choose privatization, possibly introducing redeemable equity tokens. · Perpetual DEX integration: Hyperliquid leads the market, HIP3 markets and yield stablecoins (such as HyENA) become key, USDC loses ground on HYPE. · Multi-chain Prop AMM: Prop AMM expands to multi-chain, accounting for more than half of Solana’s trading volume, pricing more assets such as RWA. · Traditional fintech adopts stablecoins: Stripe, Ramp, and others use stablecoins for international payments, stablecoin chains like Tempo become fiat on-ramps. It is worth noting that Jay Yu claims his accuracy rate for 2025 predictions reached 7/10, including precise judgment on Solana developer migration.

BlockBeats News, December 25th, Pantera Capital Senior Partner Jay Yu published a post predicting 12 trends for 2026 in the crypto space, including: · Capital-Efficient Consumer Credit: Introducing user-friendly lending applications through on-chain/off-chain credit modeling, modular design, and AI behavioral learning. · Market Prediction Divergence: Predicting the market to split into Financial (integration with DeFi, leverage) and Cultural (community-driven, long-tail enthusiasts) directions. · Proxy Business with x402 Scaling: Proxy business scaling using x402 endpoints to extend to micropayments and mainstream payments, with Solana outperforming Base in low-value transactions. · AI as a Cryptographic Interface Layer: AI-assisted trading (such as trend analysis) becoming mainstream and gradually integrating into consumer apps. · Rise of Tokenized Gold: Tokenized gold becoming a significant asset of Real World Assets (RWA), chosen as a store of value due to US Dollar issues. · Bitcoin Quantum Panic: Quantum technology breakthrough triggering institutional discussions on Bitcoin's quantum resistance, with the technology not yet posing a threat to its value. · Unified Privacy Development Experience: Privacy technologies (such as Ethereum's Kohaku) providing a simplified development interface, potentially introducing Privacy as a Service. · DAT Integration: Digital Asset Trading (DAT) platforms consolidating to 2-3 per major market through settlement or mergers. · Rethinking Token and Equity Separation: Governance token crisis prompting companies to opt for privatization, potentially introducing redeemable equity tokens. · Perpetual DEX Integration: Hyperliquid leading the market, with HIP3 markets and income-stabilizing coins (such as HyENA) becoming key, as USDC loses ground on HYPE. · Multi-Chain Prop AMM: Prop AMM expanding to multiple chains, capturing over half of Solana's transaction volume, pricing more assets like RWA. · Traditional FinTech Adoption of Stablecoins: Companies like Stripe, Ramp using stablecoins for international payments, stablecoin chains like Tempo becoming fiat onramps. Notably, Jay Yu claimed a 7/10 accuracy rate for his 2025 predictions, including an accurate forecast of Solana developer migration.

A press release published today claimed that Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has launched a new platform called “CircleMetals” offering tokenized gold and silver trading. However, according to a statement from the company, these claims are untrue. A press release issued on December 24th claimed that the platform offered 24/7 swap between USDC and so-called gold (GLDC) and silver (SILC) tokens, with transactions supported by COMEX-linked liquidity. It also asserted that users would earn a “1.25% CIRM reward” for swapping. However, it was reported that the CIRM token in question was not listed on big data platforms and could not be verified. Related News Cardano (ADA) Founder Charles Hoskinson Responds to Claims That His New Altcoin Will Replace ADA The website used in the press release invites users to connect their wallets. Experts warn that connecting wallets to unverified sites could lead to malicious actors draining assets. The press release features Circle branding and quotes executives, including CEO Jeremy Allaire. The company’s clear statement read, “It has been confirmed that this is not true.” While the site is still accessible, there is no credible evidence of the existence of the GLDC and SILC tokens, or of any legitimate financial institution being involved in the project. *This is not investment advice. Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!

Key Takeaways Circle introduces GLDC and SILC, allowing users to swap USDC for tokenized gold and silver 24/7 with deep COMEX-based liquidity. Gold and silver have both hit record highs in December, gaining over 70% and 140% year to date, respectively. Share this article Circle announced today that it has entered the tokenized commodities market with the launch of GLDC and SILC, two new digital assets representing tokenized exposure to gold and silver. The offering, available through CircleMetals.com, allows users to instantly swap USDC for tokenized gold or silver at real-time prices, backed by liquidity modeled on COMEX reference markets. Tokens are issued and settled on-chain, with integration into wallets, DeFi apps, and institutional trading platforms. “USDC was built to be trusted, transparent digital cash for the internet economy,” said Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire. “With GLDC and SILC, we’re extending that trust to gold and silver while preserving the speed, accessibility, and composability developers and institutions expect from USDC.” Circle’s expansion comes amid surging interest in precious metals. Gold reached a record high above $4,500 yesterday, now up more than 70% year to date, while silver jumped above $72 this week, capping a 140% rally in 2025. Analysts attribute the momentum to expectations of looser monetary policy in 2026, with markets currently pricing in at least two rate cuts next year. Circle said tokenized commodities are a natural evolution of capital markets and that bringing gold and silver into the same real-time, programmable environment as USDC unlocks new use cases in treasury, settlement, and risk diversification.