Data from The Block Research reveals that the decentralized finance (DeFi) space is the fastest growing cryptocurrency market.
DeFi is King
According to the research, the native tokens of many DeFi projects saw more linear growth in price this year. This seems to be dwarfed by the exponential growth seen in the summer of last year.
This is despite the growth of several of the largest decentralized finance projects such as Aave and Sushi. Their tokens quadrupled and sextupled since the beginning of this year alone.
Indeed, the value of DeFi tokens rose, and their use in DeFi products saw a similar rise over the past two months. Total Value Locked (TVL) – a measure of the value of tokens staked in DeFi products – sits at just under $40 billion.
On Feb 22nd, it reached a peak of $45 billion, triple its value at the beginning of the year, according to data from DeFi Pulse.
Freedom of Finance
Whereas the legacy cryptocurrency projects such as Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP) focused on payment systems, new-age DeFi projects focus on the wider financial industry.
Accordingly, many financial products exist in the space. For example, AAVE and Alpha Finance Labs (ALPHA) offer a range of lending and borrowing options, including the ability to borrow to a stake.
More commonly, decentralized finance platforms offer users the option to “stake” their tokens. This locks the tokens up to provide liquidity for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending, and other financial activities.
In return, users earn interest measured by a metric called Annual Percentage Yield (APY). According to data, users can earn as much as 73.25% APY in reputable pools such as SUSHI/WETH.
Bitcoin, Tesla, Netflix?
The ultimate aim of decentralized finance to liberalize and provide open access for all financial products. Sometimes, however, experiments have hiccups seen with a number of hacks in the space.
However, the mark of a good experiment is the adaptation to new information. Most exploits in the DeFi space saw quick responses, resolutions, and continued development.
Indeed, the so-called “smart-money” seemingly acknowledges this fact, continuing to tout DeFi technology as the key to open finance. Recently, billionaire investor, Tim Draper, said that blockchain could indeed be the future of a freer world.
If he is to follow Mark Cuban or Elon Musk’s Tesla steps, the DeFi and wider cryptocurrency space might see even more growth in the future.