A new wave of interest has emerged in the decentralized finance sector, quite similar to the altcoin and meme coin frenzy of 2021.
Most of the leading decentralized finance protocols have recorded notable gains over the past month, as strong retail and institutional interest entered the crypto market.
The DeFi total value locked reached over $161 billion for the first time since early April 2021, according to data from DefiLlama. Ethereum is, as usual, leading with its $97.6 billion TVL, followed by Solana’s $11.4 billion.
The biggest gainers?
The liquid staking protocol Lido and the lending platform AAVE. Lido rose from $30 billion to $42.5 billion over the past three weeks as it dethroned AAVE to become the leading DeFi platform. The lending protocol isn’t far behind with a roughly $9 billion gain, reaching $41.1 billion, in the same timeframe.
This influx of liquidity into the leading DeFi protocols means that investors are more confident in risk assets beyond just Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Historically, when ETH and blue chip DeFi protocols attract liquidity first, the next wave often spills into smaller altcoins — especially those connected to DeFi, staking, or new narratives.
The current market-wide bearish momentum suggests a local bottom, as sentiment remains above neutral despite the selloffs. Moreover, the current macro uncertainty has also been acting as a negative catalyst.
Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the Bitcoin dominance has been constantly declining since early July and just reached 57% for the first time since January. Ethereum and low-cap altcoins, on the other hand, have been seeing a rise in the same timeframe.
As soon as clarity around the US Fed’s rate cuts and the geopolitical tension emerges, risk assets will likely see a notable rise.
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