Crypto Lending Protocols Reach Nearly $60 Billion in Total Value Locked
A transformation is occurring in decentralized finance (DeFi), shifting from speculative yields to serving as a foundational layer for applications and increasing institutional involvement, according to a report by Artemis and Vaults.fyi.
- Total value locked (TVL) in top DeFi lending protocols exceeds $50 billion, showing 60% growth over the past year.
- This growth stems from enhanced institutionalization and sophisticated risk management tools.
- Applications are embedding DeFi infrastructure to provide seamless user experiences, termed the "DeFi mullet."
- Coinbase has facilitated over $300 million in loans through DeFi integration with Morpho.
- Bitget Wallet and PayPal are also using DeFi strategies to offer competitive yields on stablecoin holdings.
Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs)
- DeFi protocols are increasingly utilizing tokenized assets such as U.S. Treasuries for collateral and yield generation.
- Pendle manages over $4 billion in total value locked, focusing on tokenized yield streams.
- Ethena's products deliver returns exceeding 8% through simplified strategies.
On-Chain Asset Managers
- The rise of crypto-native asset managers like Gauntlet and Re7, managing capital across DeFi ecosystems, has been noted.
- Capital under management in this sector has quadrupled since January, now exceeding $4 billion.