Hot Tokens Learning Week 3: “UNIfication” Governance Proposal Will End on December 25 | NIGHT May Serve as a Growth Catalyst for Cardano in 2026

Overview

Ethereum developers are focusing on the roadmap for the Glamsterdam upgrade.

Many view NIGHT as a potential growth catalyst for Cardano in 2026.

zkPass is a decentralized oracle network built on zkTLS (Zero-Knowledge Transport Layer Security).

Market analysis suggests that STABLE is currently driven by speculation in the short term (high trading volume), but its long-term potential as a payment infrastructure is widely recognized.

The “UNIfication” governance proposal will conclude on December 25, with community sentiment remaining strongly optimistic.

UNI

Project Introduction

UNI is the governance token of the Uniswap protocol. Uniswap is the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) in the Ethereum ecosystem, built on an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model and supporting ERC-20 token swaps.

Ecosystem Highlights

The “UNIfication” governance proposal opened for voting on December 20 and will close on December 25. The proposal has already exceeded the quorum threshold (40 million UNI), receiving over 69M UNI in support (99%+ approval), with virtually no opposition. Upon passage, the proposal will immediately burn 100 million UNI (valued at approximately $500–600 million), activate protocol fees for Uniswap v2/v3 (redirecting a portion of LP fees to the protocol), and establish an automated token burn mechanism via TokenJar + Firepit.

Institutional activity: Whale accumulation remains active, with several large holders transferring UNI to participate in governance voting.

Community View: Strongly Optimistic

Bullish perspectives: Supporters praise the activation of protocol fees and the burn mechanism, arguing that they transform UNI from a pure governance token into a value-accruing asset with revenue-sharing characteristics (often likened to “dividends”), enhancing long-term value capture. The overwhelmingly positive vote is seen as evidence of strong consensus.

Bearish perspectives: Some point to short-term price volatility (post-vote pullbacks), a slight reduction in LP fees (v2 from 0.3% to 0.25%), and potential centralization risks stemming from Uniswap Labs’ integration.

Overall sentiment: Leaning bullish. Discussions on Twitter and Reddit remain active, with whale accumulation and high governance participation. Many view UNI as “undervalued” and are optimistic about a rebound toward $10+ by 2026.

NIGHT

Midnight is a next-generation blockchain that leverages zero-knowledge proof technology to deliver practical functionality without compromising data protection or ownership, thereby enabling applications that safeguard user, business, and transaction data, as well as associated metadata.

Ecosystem Highlights

On December 8, the LIGHT mainnet was launched, driving strong community engagement due to airdrop activities. The project plans to introduce privacy-preserving stablecoins (ZK stablecoins) and achieve deep integration with the Cardano DeFi ecosystem.

Roadmap: Federated mainnet is expected in Q1 2026; Incentivized testnet is expected in Q2 2026; by the end of 2026, final hard fork is expected to support ZK trust bridges and multi-resource consensus (Minotaur).

Community Views

Bullish perspectives: Supporters highlight the dual-token model (which mitigates gas fee volatility) and fair cross-chain distribution via the Glacier Drop, believing these factors could trigger a significant expansion of Cardano DeFi (with DEX volumes potentially growing from millions to billions). Charles Hoskinson’s projection of a $10 billion Midnight ecosystem has further fueled discussion.

Bearish perspectives: Skeptics cite short-term volatility, token unlock pressure, regulatory risks surrounding privacy tokens, and debate whether the network is “truly decentralized”, especially amid competition from projects such as Zcash and Monero.

Overall sentiment: Leaning optimistic. Discussions on Reddit and Twitter remain active, with high airdrop participation, and many view NIGHT as a key growth catalyst for Cardano in 2026.

ETH

Project Introduction

Ethereum, founded by Vitalik Buterin in 2015, is the first blockchain to support Turing-complete smart contracts and underpins DeFi, NFTs, stablecoins, RWA (Real-World Assets), and Web3 applications.

Technical Progress

Glamsterdam upgrade roadmap: Developers have initiated planning for the 2026 Glamsterdam upgrade, focusing on MEV fairness (EIP-7732 introducing native Proposer-Builder Separation), gas optimization, and block access lists to enhance decentralization and efficiency.

Blob capacity expansion: Following the Fusaka upgrade, the blob target is expected to increase from 6 to 14, potentially doubling Layer-2 efficiency and reducing fees. Additional developments: PeerDAS enables data availability sampling, reducing node bandwidth requirements. zkEVM transitions toward 128-bit security proofs, laying groundwork for quantum resistance.

On-chain Data

Network growth: New address creation has surged, with the 50-day moving average reaching a yearly high, which is often interpreted as a leading indicator of renewed user growth (similar to patterns preceding the mid-2025 price doubling). The number of active addresses exceeds 167 million, with non-empty wallets leading all major chains.

Other metrics: Ethereum maintains a 63–68% share of DeFi TVL ($73–78 billion). Whale accumulation remains strong, with large purchases totaling $16.95 million ETH on December 20. Net exchange outflows have increased, signaling a growing tendency for long-term holding behavior.

Community Views

Sentiment is mixed: Short-term caution prevails due to price pressure, ETF outflows exceeding $600 million, and record-high leverage. However, long-term outlook remains bullish. Santiment data highlights strong whale accumulation and network growth, signaling potential rebounds, mirroring past on-chain behavior observed before. On Reddit, many consider ETH “undervalued”, citing institutional adoption (e.g., by JPMorgan) as a long-term tailwind. Core figures such as Vitalik emphasize Ethereum’s role as a trust layer. Community is optimistic on the narrative of "ultrasound money" while Layer-2 fragmentation remains a concern. Overall, Ethereum’s fundamentals remain solid this week. Network upgrades and growing institutional participation are laying the groundwork for 2026, and despite short-term price volatility, the long-term narrative remains strong.

ZKP

zkPass is a decentralized oracle network based on zkTLS (Zero-Knowledge Transport Layer Security), designed to build a Verifiable Internet. It enables users to generate cryptographic proofs from private web data (such as HTTPS websites) for secure fact verification, without exposing personal information, OAuth credentials, or modifying existing systems. Launched in 2022, the project completed its Token Generation Event (TGE) on December 19, 2025, and has since been listed on multiple exchanges.

Total funding amounts to approximately $15 million, including $2.5 million seed round (from Sequoia China, Binance Labs, OKX Ventures, etc.) and $12.5 million Series A (from dao5, Animoca Brands, Flow Traders, Amber Group, etc.)

STABLE

Project Introduction

Stable is a high-throughput Layer-1 blockchain that uses USDT as gas, specifically designed for real-world financial applications, institutional settlement, and consumer-scale transactions. The network features a simplified fee model (USDT-denominated gas), deterministic block space guarantees, and a validator architecture emphasizing reliability, transparency, and sustainable incentives.

Community Views: Neutral to Cautiously Optimistic

Bullish perspectives: Supporters value the USDT gas model for simplifying payments and eliminating fee volatility, alongside perceived institutional backing from Tether/Bitfinex and favor its mainstream adoption use cases such as remittance and payments. Discussions on Twitter emphasize the “stablecoin-native” narrative.

Bearish perspectives: Critics highlight sharp post-listing price volatility (over 70% pullback), token unlock pressure, and centralization risks tied to Tether. Some also question the project's competitiveness against alternatives such as Plasma or Arc.

Overall sentiment: Short-term trading remains speculation-driven, but long-term expectations favor its role as payment infrastructure. Social media discussions are largely positive, though risk awareness remains high.

SOL

Project Introduction

Solana is a high-performance Layer-1 blockchain whose core innovation couples Proof of History (PoH) with Proof of Stake (PoS) to achieve parallel processing and high throughput.

Community Views

Community sentiment is divided: Short-term outlook is cautious due to price pressure, ETF outflows, and cooling meme-coin activity, but long-term sentiment remains bullish. Feedback from the Breakpoint conference has been positive, with many noting Solana’s transition from a “meme chain” toward an institution-grade utility network, supported by TVL growth, institutional participation, and technical upgrades such as Firedancer and Alpenglow. Many view SOL as “undervalued” and expect its rebound to the range of $200–400+ by 2026. Risks include regulation, volatility, and competition, but developer activity remains robust, with 83% growth in developers in 2025. Overall sentiment is neutral-to-bullish, centered on the “most active chain” narrative.

Aster

Project Introduction

Aster is a next-generation multichain decentralized exchange (DEX), which in 2025 gained prominence as a perpetual decentralized exchange (Perp DEX) known for privacy protection, high leverage and capital efficiency, emerging as one of Hyperliquid’s strongest rivals.

BEAT

MetaBeat is a fan-centric platform operating in the Web3 space that fundamentally reshapes how fans engage with the entertainment content they love. It enables users to join dedicated communities built for their favorite artists or entertainment franchises, fostering collective participation driven by shared interests. At the core of its functionality is the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly linked to music and entertainment content.