Cardano adds USDCx; DeFi TVL jumps 23% in 12 days

Cardano’s DeFi picked up after USDCx arrived. TVL jumped fast in early March.

- TVL in ADA rose from 447M to 552M ADA between Feb 26 and Mar 10, up about 23%, per Dave on X.
- In USD, TVL moved from about $127M to ~$142M over the same span, a ~12% rise, per DeFiLlama.
- The article attributes the gap to ADA’s price action in that window. Dave also flagged roughly $105M of additional value locked in 12 days, per his post.

USDCx, a privacy‑focused stablecoin tied to Circle, entered the Cardano ecosystem earlier this year. The rollout coincided with a broader push to deepen lending and liquidity infrastructure.

Founder Charles Hoskinson says cross‑chain bridges are in focus this year. Talks target connections to Bitcoin and XRP. Bridges sit among five core priorities in the project’s 2026 plan, per the article.

Community governance previously approved funding to strengthen DeFi infrastructure. The aim is to attract outside liquidity and close the gap with larger ecosystems.

Even after the rise, Cardano’s TVL (~$142M as tracked by DeFiLlama) trails leaders like Ethereum. Whether momentum holds will hinge on bridge delivery and incoming capital.