Latest news with #DefiLlama
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Stablecoins Are Changing Global Finance
Stable Coin. Stablecoins Cryptocurrencies Stable Market Price Value Coin Currency. The U.S. Senate has taken a major step toward regulating stablecoins by advancing the GENIUS Act—a bill that could reshape the digital finance landscape. Still under discussion, the legislation proposes strict reserve and transparency rules for issuers and signals growing government interest in crypto oversight. Stablecoins are crypto tokens that are typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. They allow users to transact within blockchain ecosystems without the volatility of traditional cryptocurrencies. Today, two clear leaders dominate the market. Yet, while Washington begins drafting policy, stablecoins have already found product-market fit in places far beyond Capitol Hill. The global use of stablecoins is growing steadily, regardless of whether the market is in a bull or bear phase. In Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and among crypto-native startups, they've quietly emerged as a preferred tool for payments, payroll, and preserving value in unstable economies. So what does this bottom-up adoption mean for the future of global finance? Are stablecoins here to stay, or will they be replaced by Central Bank Digital Currencies? And if they are here to stay, how to ride this trend? According to DefiLlama, the current market capitalization of stablecoins is around $250 billion, which is still a small share of the global M2 money supply, approximately 1%. In other words, we're still early. To understand where the growth might come from, it's worth examining what stablecoins are used for—and why they've become so popular. Stablecoins market capitalization. The first is USDT (Tether), the largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Interestingly, Tether has also emerged as one of the most financially efficient companies in the world on a per-employee basis. According to a tweet published by Avichal Garg, co-founder of Electric Capital, the company generated an estimated $85.6 million in profit per employee in 2024: Profit per Employee (USD) vs. Company The second major player is USDC, issued by U.S.-regulated firm Circle. The company went public on June 5, under the ticker CRCL, with its stock surging over 200% on its first day of trading—pushing its market capitalization above $20 billion, according to Barron's. These two companies currently dominate the stablecoin space. Others worth mentioning include: • USDS (formerly DAI), which started as a decentralized stablecoin but has become only partially decentralized due to its large holdings of U.S. Treasuries and USDC. • USD1, a politically charged entrant tied to Donald Trump's network, which has generated some discomfort among Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Maxine Waters (D–Calif.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, voiced strong objections during a joint hearing on digital assets, stating: 'I object to this joint hearing because of the corruption of the President of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all of the agencies.' Stablecoins are enjoying instant product-market fit: everyone needs access to crypto dollars — a version of the U.S. dollar that can be easily converted back to fiat, yet offers several advantages over traditional USD. While much of the attention on stablecoins focuses on regulation and market cap, their real momentum comes from how they're being used: The most obvious example of stablecoin usage is international payments. Sending U.S. dollars across borders with the traditional banking system typically involves SWIFT. Banks charge between $5 and $50 per transaction, often around $20, regardless of the transfer amount. That means sending $1,000 could cost users up to 2–5% in fees. In addition, the SWIFT transfers can take several business days to settle. Compared to transferring the same amount via stablecoins, even in the worst case, fees might only be a few dollars, and the transaction typically settles within minutes. That's at least 10 times cheaper and potentially 100 times faster. There's also another major benefit: users avoid capital controls, currency conversion hurdles, and heavy compliance bottlenecks, particularly relevant when sending money from or to countries with restrictive financial systems. The second use case — using stablecoins as a means of payment — is less advanced, largely due to regulatory inertia. Governments generally want citizens to transact in their local currencies, and stablecoins challenge that sovereignty. The lack of clarity discourages businesses from accepting them, especially given the lingering memory of Operation Choke Point, when certain industries were unofficially cut off from banking services. Despite the current U.S. administration's relatively crypto-friendly stance, the stablecoin bill GENIUS Act has yet to pass through Congress. This uncertainty keeps most merchants and payment providers on the sidelines. Once clear legislation is enacted, trust in stablecoins like USDT and USDC will likely surge. As for CBDCs, a concept that is often met with skepticism in the cryptocurrency community, the need for a government-backed digital dollar seems increasingly unnecessary. According to U.S. Treasury International Capital data, Tether's treasury holdings alone rival those of sovereign investors like Germany or Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Circle's portfolio is comparable to that of Thailand or Sweden. With such significant exposure to U.S. debt and growing political opposition to CBDCs—including campaign promises from Donald Trump to block their development—stablecoins may have already secured their place as the preferred digital dollar infrastructure in the United States. The third major use case—decentralized finance —is where stablecoins are already thriving. They serve as the foundational currency for DeFi applications, enabling lending, borrowing, swapping, yield farming, and more—all without centralized intermediaries. The functionality mirrors traditional finance but with key advantages: it's global, permissionless, and often more efficient. According to Dune Analytics data in the DeFi Report 2024–2025 , approximately 151 million wallet addresses interacted with DeFi protocols in 2024. While this figure likely includes duplicates, it provides a useful upper bound for estimating user activity. By comparison, World Bank data from 2021 shows that 4.6 to 4.9 billion people used traditional banking services globally. This also underscores the early stage of adoption of DeFi. But, once frameworks are established, DeFi usage could accelerate rapidly. Following these three cases, it's fair to say that stablecoins are here to stay. And this may only be the beginning: as crypto infrastructure intersects with artificial intelligence, stablecoins could enable AI agents to transact autonomously, unlocking programmable, real-time finance. So, how can investors position themselves to benefit from this trend? There are many ways, some of them look obvious, like buying CRCL as it has become a public company, or investing in Coinbase stocks (COIN), a company which is steadily growing its own layer two DeFi ecosystem. Some are more complicated, like finding companies to invest in that adopt stablecoins in their operations — for payments, payroll, or international transfers — and which are likely to scale faster than their peers, thanks to lower costs and global reach. Check Stripe, PayPal, and Deel as examples. On the decentralized side, assuming a favorable regulatory framework materializes, in a next way of adoption, DeFi applications could rapidly pull users away from traditional banks. In that case, there is significant upside in owning tokens or equity in platforms like Uniswap, Aave, or even Hyperliquid — all of which are well-positioned to become foundational players in the next generation of financial infrastructure. Derivative DEX trading volumes. But don't forget the risks to watch. Transformation won't come without resistance. The banking lobby remains one of the most powerful political forces in the world, and it's unlikely to welcome a shift toward 'magic internet money' without a fight. Regulatory headwinds, political gridlock, and coordinated opposition from legacy institutions are all real risks investors should keep in mind. But we know that fortune, at least in markets driven by emerging technologies, often favors the brave.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
HyperLiquid's Market Making Vault Grows by $250M in 2 Months Despite JELLY Fiasco
The yield-bearing vault created by decentralized exchange HyperLiquid has grown from $163 million to $418 million over the past two months despite centralization concerns around the JELLY market fiasco in March, data from DefiLlama shows. The vault, which acts as an internal market maker and gives depositors a yield, was underwater by $13.5 million after a user manipulated the index price of JELLY in March. HyperLiquid minimized these losses by forcibly closing the JELLY market, settling it at $0.0095 as opposed to $0.50 that was being fed to oracles via decentralized exchanges. This led to an exodus of capital from the HyperLiquid platform, total value locked (TVL) dropped from $510 million to $150 million while the HYPE token suffered a 20% downturn. But all was soon forgotten in part due to the emergence of James Wynn, a derivatives trader that made and lost $100 million on HyperLiquid in a week. His public trades and commentary generated a wealth of bullish sentiment around HyperLiquid as the platform managed to handle the nine-figure positions in terms of liquidity and slippage. Over that period, TVL increased along with HYPE, which is now up by 72% in the pat 30-days. The HyperLiquid vault is currently returning 13.42% in annual interest, beating various restaking protocols that offer around 9.1%.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ether Outperforms DeFi Market in May, Bouncing From Woeful Start to the Year
Ether ETH has increased in value by 45% over the past 30 days, outperforming the decentralized finance (DeFi) market and bitcoin, which are up 21% and 13% respectively in the same period, according to DefiLlama data. Much of ether's rise has been attributed to institutional interest that has led to record inflows from spot ETH ETFs. ETH's rise came after a lull in sentiment earlier this year as rival layer-1 blockchains like Solana took the limelight with a flurry of memecoin releases. At the turn of the year ETH was trading at $3,340 however by early April it had tumbled to as low as $1,472 amid global uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs. But now, as documented in an article by CoinDesk analyst Omkar Godbole on Thursday, ether has finally broken an 18-month downtrend against Solana as it begins to wrangle back control of the DeFi market. It appears that much of that appetite is related to yields -- DefiLlama data shows that TVL on restaking protocols like Lido, EigenLayer and have all risen by between 41% and 48% this month, while Binance's staked ether product has experienced a 63% jump in TVL. The Solana-based DeFi protocols, however, have failed to keep pace with those on Ethereum. Jupiter's and Kamino's TVL have risen by just 7% and 9% while liquid staking protocol Marinade has seen TVL increase by 29%. Ether's recent performance marks a significant recovery from earlier this year, with increased institutional interest and strong growth in DeFi protocols contributing to its rise. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Mayor
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Here Are 5 Reasons Ethereum May Reach $12,000 In 2025
Ethereum prices have surged by over 19% in the past day, reaching almost $2,500 as a general crypto market resurgence continues. Amidst investors' euphoria, prominent crypto analyst and OKC Partner Ted Pillows has tipped the prominent altcoin to sustain its bullish form, reaching a market price of $12,000 in 2025. Institutional Adoption, DeFi Status To Drive Ethereum Market, Among Others In an X post on May 9, Ted Pillows provided some valuable insights into the bullish potential of the Ethereum market. The angel investor and KOL stated there are five reasons ETH investors should be expecting profits of about 600% before 2025 runs out. Firstly, Pillows has hinted that Ethereum is likely to experience the highest level of institutional adoption among altcoins. Amidst a pro-crypto US government and the growing chances of a digital asset regulatory framework, institutional investors are likely to start diversifying their capital to other cryptocurrencies aside from Bitcoin. As seen with the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Ethereum ranks high ahead of other altcoins for portfolio additions, considering its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency with a 7.24% market share, and an extensive smart contract application. In particular, Ted Pillows emphasizes Ethereum's dominance in smart contract programmability as another reason for investors to be highly bullish. According to DefiLlama, the Ethereum blockchain currently holds 80.17% of RWA, 51.01% of circulating stablecoins, and 53.29% of total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, indicating much potential for network adoption and price growth amidst a crypto bull market. Another possible market trigger highlighted by Ted Pillows centers on the potential introduction of Ethereum ETF staking. Deadlines for the SEC's decision on the proposed staking option lie in late May & late August. However, Bloomberg analyst James Seyfart has indicated there is much potential for the Commission to wait till the final deadline in October, as seen with the ETH options trading. Read More XRP Price Crashes Over 20%, Why Breakdown Looks Real Deal The introduction of staking is likely to drive inflows into the Ethereum ETFs as it provides an additional means of income for investors. Staking would allow ETFs custodians to lock up ETH on the Ethereum network to serve as a validator for a defined period and earn a commission in return. Token Burn Post-Pectra Upgrade Signals Good Times Ahead Among other potential bullish drivers, Ted Pillows also points to the high level of ETH Burn following the launch of the Pectra network upgrade on May 7. A high burn rate indicates rising scarcity, which is always good for the market price appreciation. Finally, Ted Pillows hints at the growing potential of a risk-on environment later in 2025 as the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates and begin quantitative easing, which would encourage investments in volatile assets such as cryptocurrencies. At press time, Ethereum continues to trade at $2,334 following a slight market retracement in the last few hours. Notably, the asset's trading volume is up by 62.81% and valued at $49.85 billion. Related Reading: Sovereigns Are Buying Billions Of Bitcoin, Says Anthony Scaramucci READ SOURCE
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DeFi Borrowing Demand Plunges as Crypto Traders Deleverage Amid Market Turmoil
Borrowing demand across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols plunged sharply in the wake of the recent crypto market turmoil, a sign of widespread deleveraging as crypto investors unwound risky positions. The average U.S. dollar stablecoin yield — what protocols pay out to lenders for lending out their assets — fell to 2.8% on Tuesday to its lowest level in a year, measured by DeFi yield-earning application benchmark. That's well below the average U.S. dollar money market rates on traditional markets (4.3%), and a hefty decline from mid-December's crypto market peak, when DeFi rates topped 18%. "This is largely due to the market moving towards a risk-off environment where borrowing across protocols has decreased significantly," said Ryan Rodenbaugh, CEO of Wallfacer Labs, the team behind The move reflects risk-off sentiment spreading across crypto markets, with investors pulling back leverage amid volatile price swings. As users repay loans and liquidations clear out under-collateralized positions, demand for borrowing dips. Meanwhile, deposits available for lending on protocols remained stable, per data, meaning that declining revenue from borrowers are spread among the same amount of lenders, exerting downward pressure on yields. That's a "negative double-whammy" for the rates that the remaining lenders are getting paid, Rodenbaugh said. The sharp decline in yields and deleveraging was exacerbated by this weekend's carnage in crypto markets, as major DeFi lending protocols reported a wave of liquidations amid rapidly plunging asset prices. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum's ETH, two assets predominantly used as collateral for crypto loans, suffered 10%-15% declines below $75,000 and $1,500, respectively. Aave, the largest decentralized lending market by total value locked (TVL), processed over $110 million in forced liquidations during the Sunday-Monday market decline, Omer Goldberg, CEO of DeFi analytics firm Chaos Labs, noted citing on-chain data. Sky (formerly MakerDAO), issuer of the $7 billion USDS stablecoin and one of DeFi's largest lending platforms, also liquidated an ether whale's $74 million DAI loan collateralized by 67,570 ETH, worth $106 million at the time, on-chain data shows. Another large lender with 65,000 ETH in collateral scrambled to pay off portions of their $66 million loan to avoid a similar fate, bringing down the outstanding debt to $28 million. The total value of borrowed assets on Aave dropped to $10 billion on Tuesday, a sharp drop from over $15 billion in mid-December, DefiLlama data shows. Morpho, another key lending protocol, saw a similar drop to $1.7 billion from $2.4 billion during the same period, per DefiLlama. Sign in to access your portfolio
