Weekly DeFi News Recap Ep6

DeFi Statistics

After the much-anticipated Fed rate cut, crypto is showing a classic sell-the-news response. Core TVL pockets, especially liquid staking and lending, bled a bit, dragged down by Ethereum's price correction, while stablecoin market cap continued to edge higher. At the same time, DEX activity ticked up, consistent with the heightened market volatility.

On-chain participation softened: fewer active addresses and lighter daily throughput, with swaps getting noticeably cheaper. For the moment this looks more like consolidation after the headline than a true breakdown. Liquidity sidestepping into stables, nibbling on trades, and waiting for the next catalyst.

Maple’s $200M Plasma Vault Fills in Under a Minute

Maple Finance’s latest expansion hit the ground running as its $200 million syrupUSDT vault on Plasma, hosted by Midas, reached near-capacity almost instantly after opening. Depositors, drawn in by rewards tied to Plasma’s upcoming mainnet and token generation event, rushed in with commitments as large as $125,000 minimum per entry. The strong demand reflects the excitement in the markets surrounding Tether-backed Plasma, where the XPL token is already trading at an elevated valuation on Hyperliquid pre-markets.

For Maple, the launch marks another milestone in its multi-chain expansion strategy, adding to deployments on Ethereum, Solana, and most recently Arbitrum. With over $3.5 billion in AUM, Maple is targeting $5 billion by year’s end, to cement its role as one of DeFi’s most aggressive onchain asset managers.

Source: thedefiant.io

Curve Proposes $60M Yield Basis to Turn CRV Into an Income Asset

Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov has put forward a new governance proposal called Yield Basis, a protocol designed to generate direct income for veCRV holders. The plan would mint $60 million of crvUSD ahead of launch to seed three bitcoin-focused pools: WBTC, cbBTC, and tBTC, each capped at $10 million. Revenue from the pools would see as much as 65% distributed to veCRV holders, while 25% of Yield Basis tokens would be reserved for the Curve ecosystem.

The initiative aims to reposition CRV as an income-generating asset while appealing to institutional traders with transparent, sustainable bitcoin yields that avoid impermanent loss. Voting runs from Sept. 17–24. The proposal also comes at a sensitive moment for Egorov, who has faced repeated liquidations tied to leveraged CRV purchases, most notably a $140 million wipeout earlier this year. Despite the turbulence, Curve is pressing ahead with efforts to strengthen tokenholder incentives and reinforce long-term sustainability.

Source: coindesk.com

Aave CEO Teases “Game-Changing” V4 Upgrade for Q4

Stani Kulechov confirmed that Aave v4 is planned for Q4 and framed it as one of 2025’s biggest DeFi releases. The upgrade introduces a hub-and-spoke architecture, a revamped liquidation engine, UX improvements, and a late-addition Reinvestment Module that deploys idle pool liquidity into low-risk, highly liquid strategies, aiming to boost capital efficiency and reduce gas.

Kulechov said the reinvestment feature wasn’t in the original design but emerged as an “unexpected, exciting” addition, conceptually echoing basis-style rebalancing seen in newer stablecoin systems while applying it natively within Aave. A fresh development update and roadmap were shared this week, signaling the push toward a Q4 rollout.

Source: u.today

Survey: 40%+ of Americans Would Try DeFi If Congress Passes Clear Rules

A new Ipsos poll for the DeFi Education Fund finds 42% of U.S. adults would likely try DeFi if pending crypto legislation became law. Among those open to trying, 84% say they’d use DeFi for online purchases. Motivations center on lower fees and greater control; only 12% report strong interest in learning about DeFi today, showing the need for simpler UX and clear consumer protections.

The study finds widespread skepticism toward banks: fewer than half believe the U.S. financial system meets their needs, and only 29% view it as secure. Researchers say Americans want always-on control of money and fewer intermediaries, while Congress weighs bills to define crypto’s legal status and regulator roles, a much needed clarity.

Source: cointelegraph.com

Ondo’s Yield-Bearing USDY Launches on Stellar

Ondo Finance has deployed USDY on the Stellar network. USDY is a yield-accruing stablecoin backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries and bank deposits, the first of its kind for Stellar users. USDY accrues daily yield while remaining liquid for spending and transfers, making it useful for DeFi collateral and other uses. Initial integrations span LOBSTR, Aquarius, Meru, Soroswap, and Decaf Wallet.

Unlike fiat-pegged stablecoins on Stellar that don’t pay interest, USDY blends stability and yield, bringing treasury-like returns into a payments-native token. Ondo frames this as the next step after dollar access via stablecoins, now offering on-chain Treasuries in a spendable form that institutions and small businesses can deploy across Stellar’s DeFi and payments rails.

Source: crypto.news

Galaxy Digital Confirms It’s Using Aave for Capital Efficiency and Product Buildout

Publicly listed Galaxy Digital said it’s integrating Aave across treasury, trading, and lending to reduce reliance on centralized liquidity providers and unlock 24/7 borrowing against BTC/ETH. The firm’s Head of Lending called Aave a “core venue” for stablecoin liquidity, noting faster access than CeFi workflows and flexible rates that align with market conditions. AAVE jumped ~5% on the announcement.

Galaxy is also deploying GHO via sGHO to earn the Aave Savings Rate on idle capital, turning treasury balances into yield while keeping liquidity accessible. Beyond immediate balance-sheet efficiency, Galaxy framed Aave as infrastructure for next-gen DeFi products such as credit facilities or bridge loans.

Source: coinjournal.net

Coinbase’s Elevated USDC Yields Are Temporarily Boosted by Morpho

Coinbase’s new USDC lending product touting up to ~10.8% returns is currently riding a temporary “boost” from DeFi lender Morpho. Coinbase’s Max Branzburg said roughly 6% of yield comes from Morpho market activity, with another ~5% subsidized by Morpho incentives, a marketing push that could end, causing rates to normalize. Coinbase’s blog post didn’t mention the subsidy, though help docs note Morpho rates can vary.

Under the hood, Steakhouse Financial curates the Morpho vaults that Coinbase routes deposits into; the Base vault held ~$24M USDC on Friday at ~5.9% APY (with a 25% performance fee), allocating ~98% to lending cbBTC, alongside cbETH/WETH/wstETH markets. The setup complements Coinbase’s crypto-backed loans powered by Morpho, but the explicit incentive component revives questions about sustainability of boosted yields, even if these are far from the excesses of 2022.

Source: decrypt.co

Hyperliquid’s $10.8B HYPE Airdrop Nears Completion

Hyperliquid is nearing the end of its HYPE airdrop with 42% of supply still to distribute, while Aster (ASTER) buyers are excluded from the remaining rounds to prevent double-dipping and favor organic participation. At TGE, 310M HYPE were distributed at an implied $10.8B valuation, placing it among the largest token launches by headline value.

The final allocations are expected to lift liquidity and trading activity (and likely volatility) as recipients position for potential staking, liquidity pools, and governance initiatives around HYPE. Market impact will hinge on the cadence of the remaining drops and how incentives are structured across venues.

source: coinfomania.com