Weekly DeFi News Recap Ep5

DeFi Statistics

ETH’s rebound clearly woke things up this week, as TVL expanded meaningfully across liquid staking and lending. In particular, the sharp rise in Lending TVL could indicate renewed risk appetite in the Crypto markets. Stablecoin supply also edged higher, continuing its slow rise towards $300 billion. Cash flows show signs of increased activity as well. DEX volume and daily transactions picked up, making swaps were noticeably pricier. There was a small dip in active addresses, but probably not very relevant in light of all the other indicators appearing green this week.

Solana Perpetual Futures Heat Up Amid Record Open Interest

Solana’s perpetual futures market is surging, with open interest hitting a three-year peak of $7.48 billion and on-chain activity accelerating through Jupiter and Drift. The rally past $200 fueled both centralized and decentralized perpetuals trading, with more than 61% of positions long while shorts also grew bolder, raising liquidation risks.

On-chain perpetuals volume on Solana topped $41B in recent months, enough to surpass Ethereum, BSC, and several L2s on that metric. Still, activity remains well below Hyperliquid’s $385B, which highlights the gap between Solana’s growing derivatives market and established leaders. Within Solana’s own markets, leverage is elevated and sentiment sits in “greed,” conditions that favor sharp, liquidation-driven moves.

Source: cryptopolitan.com

Aave Reduces Scroll Exposure Amid Governance Turmoil

Aave has moved to scale back its risk on the Scroll Layer-2 network after instability in Scroll’s governance model forced a halt to new DAO proposals. The Aave Chan Initiative proposed raising reserve factors to 90%, lowering supply caps, and cutting borrowing caps to safeguard liquidity and user funds. Because Aave’s footprint on Scroll is small (~$6M TVL), the adjustments are precautionary and aimed at limiting tail-risk.

Scroll’s DAO has been shaken by the resignation of its lead delegate and the suspension of fresh governance submissions, leaving several key proposals stalled. These include very important ones such as treasury management and council formation proposals. Aave’s adjustments aim to insulate its lending pools from potential fallout while Scroll experiments with new governance structures.

Source: cryptoslate.com

21Shares Launches DYDX ETP to Expand Institutional Access to DeFi Derivatives

Swiss asset manager 21Shares has introduced a new exchange-traded product (ETP) tied to the dYdX token, broadening regulated access to one of DeFi’s largest decentralized derivatives platforms. Backed one-to-one by DYDX tokens held in custody, the product allows investors to trade exposure to perpetual futures markets on traditional stock exchanges, removing custody and compliance barriers that have limited institutional participation.

This move extends 21Shares’ DeFi lineup, which already includes Aave, Uniswap, and Chainlink products launched in 2022. With more than $1.4 trillion in cumulative trading volume on dYdX, the ETP shows growing institutional interest in decentralized derivatives as the sector matures. Liquidity for the product will be supported by Flow Traders to keep pricing efficient and aligned with underlying assets.

Source: decrypt.co

Sonic TVL Plummets 67% Since May as Token Slumps

Layer-1 blockchain Sonic, formerly known as Fantom, has seen its TVL collapse from $1.1 billion in May to $367 million, a 67% drop that coincides with the end of its market-making deal with Wintermute. Analysts argue the decline shows how new chains struggle to sustain DeFi activity without external liquidity support, leaving Sonic at a crossroads between relying on professional market makers or pursuing slower organic adoption.

Experts also point to the mercenary nature of yield-driven capital: with Sonic’s token ($S) down 69% since launch, incentive yields have rapidly diminished, driving capital outflows. While Sonic’s leadership stresses long-term plans like launching a U.S. ETF and digital asset treasury, critics warn that relying too heavily on subsidies has undermined sustainable ecosystem growth.

Source: thedefiant.io

Maple Expands to Plasma With Launch of syrupUSDT

Maple has launched its dollar-yield token syrupUSDT on Plasma, the Tether-backed blockchain optimized for payments, marking the product’s first deployment beyond Ethereum. The new vault, hosted by Midas, will offer curated yield alongside exclusive rewards tied to Plasma’s upcoming mainnet and token launch. The move aligns with Maple’s push toward $5 billion in AUM by year-end and highlights its multi-chain growth strategy following expansions to Solana and Arbitrum.

Plasma’s high-throughput design and focus on USDT settlement make it a natural venue for Maple’s yield-bearing stablecoins, which already surpassed $1 billion in supply with syrupUSDC earlier this year. By seeding early liquidity on Plasma, Maple aims to establish syrupUSDT as a cornerstone asset for the network’s DeFi ecosystem, bridging institutional-grade credit products with next-gen payments infrastructure.

Source: blockster.com

Fraud Suspicion Emerges Over Figure’s $12B TVL Claim

DefiLlama flagged major discrepancies in the reported $12 billion TVL of RWA platform Figure, suggesting the numbers may be fabricated. According to 0xngmi, the site’s founder, Figure’s on-chain activity shows only around $5 million in BTC and $4 million in ETH held on exchanges, plus a mere $2,000 in daily BTC trading volume. Its native stablecoin YLDS also has just 20 million units in circulation, far below what would be expected for a multibillion-dollar ecosystem.

DefiLlama’s analysis found that most RWA transfers came from accounts unrelated to asset owners, while loans were mostly settled in fiat, leaving negligible on-chain activity. The team emphasized that their role is to provide accurate data and dismissed rumors of rejecting Figure due to social metrics or charging listing fees. The findings raise serious doubts about Figure’s reported scale, with DefiLlama warning the $12B claim may reflect little more than an internal database entry rather than verifiable blockchain assets.

Source: bitcoinsistemi.com

WLFI Proposes 100% Fee-Funded Token Buyback and Burn

WorldLibertyFinancial (WLFI) has introduced a governance proposal to channel all protocol-owned liquidity (POL) fees into continuous token buybacks and permanent burns. The move, which has already received over 99% community approval ahead of the September 19 vote, would make WLFI one of the first protocols to dedicate 100% of fee revenues to reducing circulating supply.

The strategy is designed to create scarcity, counter inflation from token emissions, and directly return value to holders through a transparent, automated mechanism. Proponents say this could stabilize WLFI’s token price and strengthen long-term sustainability, while also offering a model for how DeFi projects can align tokenomics with community interests. If approved, it would mark a bold step in using governance to hardwire deflationary mechanics into protocol operations.

Source: bitcoinworld.co.in