Weekly DeFi News Recap Ep7

DeFi Statistics

This week’s DeFi statistics were driven by Ethereum’s price swings and broad market volatility. Headline TVL edged higher with the rebound, but there were changes in its composition: liquid staking TVL declined amid higher redemptions, while lending expanded, consistent with greater leverage and basis trades (spot long vs. futures short) that proliferate when funding and futures spreads swing. DEX volumes also jumped, as traders rushed to rebalance or hedge their positions. On Ethereum specifically, active addresses and transactions fell, yet sharply higher gas suggests throughput was dominated by fewer, larger, or more complex transactions.

Aster Becomes the Second-Largest Global Fee Earner After Tether

Aster has quickly emerged as a dominant force in DeFi, generating over $14 million in fees within a single day, ranking just behind Tether in global fee capture. Despite trailing Hyperliquid in trading volume, Aster has already surpassed it in daily revenue, fueled by its aggressive perpetual futures model that offers up to 1,001x leverage. The protocol’s rapid rise has pushed its market capitalization above $3 billion, with its token rallying nearly 2,000% since launch earlier this month.

The exchange has also drawn attention for its upcoming transition from BNB Chain to its own layer-1 network, Aster Chain, which is currently in testing and designed with a focus on trade privacy. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao acknowledged his advisory role, clarifying that his support is technical rather than regulatory. With its airdrop scheduled to close in mid-October and strong trader activity driving revenue, Aster is positioning itself as a serious challenger in the perpetual futures space.

Source: cryptopolitan.com

Synthetix to Launch First Perpetual DEX on Ethereum Mainnet in Q4

Synthetix is preparing to debut the first perpetual futures exchange on Ethereum mainnet later this year, beginning with a $1 million trading competition in October. The platform will introduce gasless trading, zero settlement costs, and multi-collateral margin, allowing traders to post assets such as sUSDe, wstETH, and cbBTC while still earning yield. This design enables more efficient strategies like basis trading without requiring asset sales or bridging to other chains.

The competition, which will run for one month, is designed to stress-test the exchange ahead of its full launch, with 100 selected traders competing across major markets like BTC, ETH, SOL, and DOGE. Beyond the prize pool, participants will receive rewards in SNX tokens and exclusive benefits. By bringing perpetuals directly to Ethereum’s liquidity-rich environment, Synthetix aims to cement Ethereum mainnet as a serious venue for high-performance derivatives trading.

Source: crypto.news

Swarm to Launch Tokenized Stocks on Plasma Mainnet

Swarm will debut on plasma at mainnet launch with nine tokenized equities: Apple, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Tesla, Nvidia, BlackRock, Intel, Coupang, and Coinbase. Issued under the EU Prospectus Regulation, the tokens grant legal rights to the underlying shares and trade 24/7 against stablecoins, aligning with the broader RWA push that’s brought on-chain value past $30B this year.

Plasma, an EVM-compatible L1 backed by Tether, Bitfinex, and Framework Ventures, is launching with over $2B in committed liquidity and a highly anticipated XPL TGE (pre-markets implying ~$7.5B valuation). The move follows Swarm’s recent Hedera rollout (with instant on-chain redemptions), which adds to the growing momentum for regulated tokenized stocks across both DeFi and CEX venues.

Source: thedefiant.io

Uniswap Compact v1 targets safer, simpler cross-chain ops

Uniswap Labs unveiled “Compact v1,” an ownership-free smart contract designed to make cross-chain operations safer and more composable. The contract focuses on securely managing resource locks across chains, which reduces common exploit surfaces and gives developers a customizable framework to coordinate complex multi-chain actions without centralized control points.

If widely adopted, Compact v1 could ease fragmentation by enabling more reliable atomic flows between L1s and L2s, lowering reliance on brittle bridges and improving UX for truly multi-chain dapps.

Source: bitcoinworld.co.in

Curve DAO backs Yield Basis with $60M crvUSD line despite controversy

Curve DAO has approved a proposal to grant Yield Basis (a new protocol from Curve founder Michael Egorov) a $60 million crvUSD credit line to seed BTC–stablecoin liquidity. The vote saw strong turnout, with major blocs like Convex and StakeDAO tipping the balance, though it sparked concerns over conflicts of interest and the scale of the facility. Egorov stressed that incentives would come from Yield Basis tokens, not fresh CRV emissions, and highlighted multiple audits and emergency safeguards.

Yield Basis claims to “eliminate impermanent loss” by leveraging positions to maintain balanced exposure, but critics argue the approach still leaves LPs vulnerable to rebalancing costs and volatility. Regardless, deposits filled immediately after the vote, showing strong market demand. The next funding round is expected soon, with Ethereum as the first deployment.

Source: blockworks.co

Binance integrates Aave yields into Plasma USDT product

Binance has launched an upgraded Aave–Plasma USDT Locked Product, letting its users earn yields of up to 7% from Aave’s lending markets on the Plasma blockchain. Existing Plasma USDT subscribers were automatically migrated to the new product, while new users can join through fixed-term subscriptions. Rewards are distributed daily, with APRs varying by lock-up duration.

The rollout coincides with Plasma’s high-profile mainnet and token debut, which drew billions in stablecoin liquidity and strong speculative interest. By combining Aave’s DeFi lending rails with Binance’s Earn platform, the move lowers barriers for mainstream users to access on-chain yields, potentially deepening liquidity on Plasma while boosting visibility for AAVE in institutional and retail markets.

Source: blockchainreporter.net

PayPal’s PYUSD Surges to New All-Time High After Spark Partnership

PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin saw its market cap surge 42% this week after Spark, an onchain allocator incubated by Sky (formerly MakerDAO), committed to deploying $1B toward minting PYUSD. The influx of capital pushed PYUSD above the $1B threshold again, doubling its valuation since Q3 began and making it the ninth-largest stablecoin, just behind BlackRock’s BUIDL and Falcon’s USDf.

Spark’s expansion has become a catalyst for stablecoin adoption, with its TVL going up 110% this year. With capital now flowing into PYUSD, liquidity is expected to deepen across DeFi venues, strengthening PayPal’s role in the increasingly competitive stablecoin market.

Source: thedefiant.io

Plasma Network TVL Surges Past $4.9B, Overtakes Base

Plasma Network has quickly climbed the DeFi rankings, surpassing Base with nearly $5B locked just days after its mainnet and XPL token launch. The chain, backed by Bitfinex and designed around stablecoin payments, has drawn liquidity from over 100 platforms including Aave, Ethena, and Binance, which shows strong institutional appetite.

XPL itself debuted to heavy demand, rallying more than 50% on launch day and sustaining momentum as Plasma’s TVL rose sharply. While Base remains a dominant L2 tied to Coinbase, Plasma’s focus on stablecoin optimization sets it apart, positioning the new L1 as a rising competitor in the battle for DeFi liquidity.

Source: blockchainreporter.net