Key Points
- Ethereum DeFi’s total value locked (TVL) has exceeded $80 billion for the first time in two years.
- Ethereum has regained its dominance in hosting Tether’s USDT stablecoin, surpassing Tron.
After a two-year period of underperformance, the total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum DeFi has surged past $80 billion. This significant increase in DeFi TVL follows a major market uptrend that pushed the ETH price to over $3,500 in November. This recent market rally was triggered by increased activity after President Donald Trump’s election victory earlier this month.
A closer look at Ethereum’s decentralized finance (DeFi) market reveals that Lido, a liquid staking protocol, remains the largest DeFi platform on Ethereum with $32.87 billion in TVL. Aave, a lending protocol, comes second with $26.7 billion, followed by EigenLayer, a restaking solution, at $14.2 billion. These three platforms collectively account for the majority of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem value.
Renewed Optimism in DeFi Market
The recent victory of Donald Trump has reignited optimism for a potential bull market in the DeFi sector, which could drive renewed demand for Ethereum (ETH). Furthermore, his campaign indicated a shift toward easing regulatory burdens on crypto, potentially creating a more favorable environment for DeFi platforms in the US. This promise has spurred growth in ETH and major DeFi tokens since early November.
Ethereum has once again regained dominance in hosting Tether’s USDT stablecoin, surpassing Tron. This occurred after a 10% increase in the USDT supply on Ethereum over the last week. Data from DeFiLlama shows that the Ethereum blockchain now hosts over $60.3 billion of Tether USDT supply, compared to Tron’s $58.1 billion. The supply of USDT on Tron has dropped by 1.5% over the past week, while Ethereum’s USDT supply surged by 9.3%. This shift has allowed Ethereum to reclaim the top spot for USDT dominance, surpassing Tron for the first time since August 2022.
Ethereum Reclaims Top Spot
Ethereum overtook Tron for the first position on November 21, and extended its lead on November 23 when Tether minted $2 billion in USDT on the Ethereum blockchain, compared to $1 billion on Tron. The increase in USDT supply signals a bullish sentiment as stablecoins are vital for providing liquidity and facilitating capital flow throughout the entire crypto ecosystem. Ethereum has become the primary blockchain for financial institutions tokenizing US dollar-backed real-world assets, while Tron’s low fees and faster transaction speeds have made it a popular choice for stablecoin savings, particularly in high-inflation countries.
The Ethereum (ETH) price has rebounded from the $3,000 level in the last two days. At the time of writing, the ETH price has risen 4.17% to $3,457, with a market cap of $416 billion. Additionally, the CME futures open interest for ETH has reached a new all-time high, indicating that investors remain bullish on ETH’s future outlook.
