The total value of assets locked (TVL) on decentralized finance (DeFi) projects registered a 30% year-on-year decline, falling to a year-to-date low of $36.95 billion, according to data from DeFillama.
While DeFi projects started the year strong, peaking at over $52 billion in April, the sector has witnessed six months of consistent underperformance, dragging it to its current low.
Liquid staking projects are flourishing
In the ever-evolving landscape of the DeFi sector, liquid staking projects have emerged as a beacon of resilience, contrasting with the broader decline seen in other DeFi categories.
Despite prevailing bearish sentiments, liquid staking projects have performed well, returning nearly 300% from their 2022 lows to nearly $20 billion in TVL, according to DeFillama. facts. According to the latest figures, TVL now stands at $17.67 billion.
Lido is the dominant player within this niche, retaining more than 50% of the market share and surpassing major competitors such as Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, according to insights from Nansen data shared with CryptoSlate.
Tron-based projects TVL increases
The Tron Network has also witnessed significant growth in its DeFi projects, with their contribution to total TVL reaching a record high of 18.23%, up from the 6.5% recorded earlier this year.
Detective Patrick Scott in chains attributed Tron’s increased TVL to grow the first Real-World Assets (RWA) on the network, stUSDT. According to DeFillama factsThe project’s TVL is approaching $2 billion in just four months since launch.
However, CryptoSlate reported that the project has come under scrutiny mainly for its governance and transparency, while some of its alleged partners, such as Tether (USDT), have denied any connection.
Meanwhile, Ethereum remains the main platform for DeFi projects and applications, controlling more than 50% of the market. Other networks such as Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum and others also host many projects.
DeFi projects lost 2.5 million monthly users.
Now that the TVL has leveled off, DeFi projects have faced another challenge: a drop of about 2.5 million active monthly users throughout the year, Altindex reported, citing a Dune Analytics dashboard from rchen8. According to the report, the decline started in May and has continued to trend downward.
In May, the DeFi sector had over 3.8 million monthly users, but by October this number had dropped to around 1.15 million, compared to the 2.7 million users reported in October last year. Overall, monthly unique users are down 66% from an all-time high of 7.51 million in November 2021.