The DeFi sector has achieved a major milestone, with the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols surpassing $100 billion. This surge in on-chain capital is largely attributed to the renewed interest in Bitcoin and the recent introduction of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January.
As reported by DefiLlama, a leading provider of DeFi statistics, the global TVL in DeFi protocols has reached $100.1 billion, accompanied by a trading volume exceeding $10 billion within the past 24 hours at the time of this report. While these numbers fall short of the previous record of $189 billion set in November 2021, they signify a significant milestone for the DeFi ecosystem.
Staking Platforms Lead Charts in Terms of TVL
Leading in terms of locked value is the liquid staking protocol Lido, boasting an impressive $38.7 billion locked on-chain. Close behind are the staking ecosystem EigenLayer and the Aave protocol, each with over $11 billion locked.
The surge in DeFi TVL beyond the $100 billion mark is a significant milestone, marking the first time in almost two years that the sector has reached such heights. This growth is attributed to the positive sentiment returning to the crypto markets following the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The institutional demand for Bitcoin ETFs has played a crucial role in driving the cryptocurrency’s price to new all-time highs, surpassing $70,000 on March 8.
According to recent research from BitMEX, assets in Bitcoin ETFs reached an impressive $28 billion on that day. It’s worth noting that this analysis excludes assets from Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which transitioned from an over-the-counter (OTC) product to an ETF in January.
OTC Trading Platforms Face Shortage of Bitcoin
Speculation has been rife on social media platforms regarding over-the-counter (OTC) trading platforms encountering a shortage of Bitcoin and turning to public exchanges to fulfill client orders. OTC desks typically serve large-volume traders, including institutional investors. Consequently, several centralized crypto exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bybit, faced outages due to the surge in trading volume when Bitcoin exceeded $60,000.
To address the heightened demand, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek disclosed that the exchange had onboarded an additional 480 customer representatives.
The soaring price of Bitcoin has also sparked a surge in memecoin prices. Memecoins like Korra (KORRA) witnessed a remarkable 577% rise in the last seven days, followed by Ribbit (RIBBIT) with a 235% surge and PUG AI (PUGAI) with a 232% increase. Notably, popular tokens such as Shiba Inu and Pepe recorded gains of 168% and 165%, respectively. Consequently, the market capitalization of memecoins currently stands at $61 billion.
Moreover, the memecoin trend has propelled Dogecoin and SHIB into the top 1 tokens by market capitalization, with $26 billion and $20 billion, respectively.
