DeFi Soars Past $100M: Key Accents of the Week, Emerging Scams, and Market Patterns
Summary:
This week in decentralized finance (DeFi), the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi surpassed $100 million due to Ethereum liquid restaking, with Solana taking steps to address network congestion. The first quarter of 2024 saw a significant growth in DeFi TVL, almost doubling from Q4 2023. Homium, an Avalanche-based tokenization protocol, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT called attention to scammers behind various rug pulls. The week ended on a bearish note with the total value locked in DeFi protocols falling below $90 billion.
This is Finance Redefined, your go-to for all news on decentralized finance (DeFi) — a specially curated newsletter to keep you updated on the week's pivotal events. The smashing of the $100 million mark by the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols was mainly facilitated by a substantial rise in Ethereum liquid restaking during Q1 2024, with entities like Lido and EigenLayer spearheading this resurgence. In an attempt to rectify persistent network congestion on the blockchain, Solana developers launched a patch on April 15, with the assurance of more such corrective patches in the pipeline.
In the initial quarter of the year, the DeFi TVL experienced an almost two-fold rise from the last quarter figures, which was largely due to Ethereum liquid restaking initiatives, as per recently conducted studies. From a mere $36 billion in Q4 2023, the DeFi TVL skyrocketed to touch nearly $97 billion during Q1 2024, based on DefiLlama reports. The same number has shown an 81% rise since the starting of the year, peaking at a record $98 billion last week.
Built on Avalanche, Homium, a home equity line of credit (HELOC) tokenization protocol has been successful in accumulating $10 million from a Series A funding round. The funding round was led by renowned groups Blizzard and Sorenson Impact Group. With its novel strategy of helping homeowners secure loans against home equity without incurring any additional monthly debts, Homium represents a significant advancement, as confirmed by Avalanche on April 15.
To counter the ongoing network congestion on the Solana blockchain, Solana developers launched a mainnet beta update, v1.17.31, on April 12. After their three-day long examination, this update has been suggested for widespread use by the mainnet beta validators. This patch, which includes several enhancements set to reduce network congestion, will be followed up with additional improvements in version v1.18.
ZachXBT, a blockchain sleuth known for his incognito identity, has sounded the alarm on a scammer group out to dupe victims with their new fraudulent scheme involving millions in stolen funds. After a detailed inquiry into Leaper Finance, a lending protocol on Blast, Zach revealed on X that the same party was responsible for multiple scams, swindling users of Solfire ($4.8 million), Magnate ($6.5 million), Lendora, and Kokomo ($4 million).
As per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, the previous week has been tough for DeFi's top 100 coins in terms of market capitalization, with most of them experiencing downturns in their weekly trade volumes. The total value locked in DeFi protocols also took a hit and fell below the $90 billion mark.
We hope you found our coverage of this week's tectonic shifts in DeFi informative. Stay tuned next Friday for more information, stories, and insights from this dynamic and exciting financial world.
Published At
4/19/2024 10:25:00 PM
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