---
title: What's Driving Token Prices? January 7, 2026
description: "Crypto recap: Token price movers, DeFi & NFT news, and Ethereum upgrade.Market insights from Arca’s Katie Talati."
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# What's Driving Token Prices? January 7, 2026

[![Katie Talati](https://www.ar.ca/hubfs/Katie%20Talati.png)](https://www.ar.ca/blog/author/katie-talati)

 Written by [Katie Talati](https://www.ar.ca/blog/author/katie-talati)

 Jan 8, 2026

**Join Katie Talati, Arca’s Head of Research, weekly on Wednesday at 4PM EST / 1PM PST as she shares notable token activity over the past week and her insights on what market events drove these token price movements.**

Watch Our Founders Video

- **HNT (+12%)** - Last week, wireless DePIN project Helium announced it would cease its token buyback program after only two months. In a post on X, the project’s founder noted that despite spending on token buybacks, the market did not respond, and therefore, they decided to reinvest in the project’s growth. To date, Helium has spent over $2.2M on token buybacks, averaging roughly $200K per week. Despite this, poor market conditions and low liquidity have led to volatile price performance. As a DePIN project, HNT’s token model is based on supply and demand, whereby new HNT tokens are emitted to individuals who provide hotspot wireless access, and users pay in HNT tokens (which are burned) to access that wireless connectivity. The result is that as demand for network access grows, so does demand for HNT. As of now, demand generated by Helium’s 1.6M DAUs on the network is outstripping emissions by approximately 60%.
- **LIT (+14%)** - Lighter protocol, the hottest new perpetual futures DEX on the market, began its buyback program on Monday, and has so far purchased approximately 280K tokens worth $792K at today’s price. The project also announced yesterday that it would roll out support for trading equity perpetual futures on a 24/5 schedule. Lighter joins many others offering equity perps, including Coinbase and Robinhood. This all comes on the heels of a rocky token launch for LIT right after the Christmas holiday. Upon launch, the token crashed 30% but has since recovered and is now up 14% on the week.
- **JUP (+16%)** - On Monday, Jupiter, the largest DEX aggregator on Solana, launched its JupUSD stablecoin. The stablecoin, which was launched in conjunction with Ethena, is 90% backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. According to the project, the stablecoin is actually backed by a combination of USDtb (Ethena’s stablecoin backed by BUIDL shares) and USDC. In the future, Jupiter plans to add additional backing assets, including potentially Ethena’s USDe stablecoin. The JupUSD stablecoin will be available to use on Jupiter’s platform, including its exchange, lending protocol, and across any other Solana DeFi apps that choose to support it. As of today, JupUSD has approximately $11.5M in AUM.

*DISCLAIMER: This commentary is not intended to be investment advice, investment research, or a recommendation. Please consult your investment professional for your own circumstances."*

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Disclaimer: This commentary is provided as general information only and is in no way intended as investment advice, investment research, legal advice, tax advice, a research report, or a recommendation. Any decision to invest or take any other action with respect to any investments discussed in this commentary may involve risks not discussed, and therefore, such decisions should not be based solely on the information contained in this document. Please consult your own financial/legal/tax professional.

Statements in this communication may include forward-looking information and/or may be based on various assumptions. The forward-looking statements and other views or opinions expressed are those of the author, and are made as of the date of this publication. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated and there is no guarantee that any particular outcome will come to pass. The statements made herein are subject to change at any time. Arca disclaims any obligation to update or revise any statements or views expressed herein. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and there can be no assurance that any future results will be realized. Some or all of the information provided herein may be or be based on statements of opinion. In addition, certain information provided herein may be based on third-party sources, which is believed to be accurate, but has not been independently verified. Arca and/or certain of its affiliates and/or clients may now, or in the future, hold a financial interest in investments that are the same as or substantially similar to the investments discussed in this commentary. No claims are made as to the profitability of such financial interests, now, in the past or in the future and Arca and/or its clients may sell such financial interests at any time. The information provided herein is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation to provide investment advisory services.

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