Aave and Lido surpass $70b in net deposits, leads DeFi

According to Token Terminal, Aave and Lido have surpassed $70 billion in net deposits for the first time in history.

Aave (AAVE) leads the pack at $34.3 billion, just ahead of Lido Finance (LDO) at $33.4 billion. Together, the two protocols represent 75.25% of the $89.52 billion allocated to the top five Decentralized applications in December 2024, the highest figure ever. Together, the two projects account for 45.5% of the total funding allocated among the top 20 DeFi applications, equivalent to $67.42. billion of the total net deposits in the sector of 148 billion dollars. LDO is the leader in total value with $33.8 billion, followed by AAVE with $20.6 billion.

Overall, the DeFi sector has experienced growth with year-to-date TVL increasing by 107%, peaking on December 16 when TVL reached $212 billion, representing the first time that value has exceeded $200 billion.

Net deposits of the top five DeFi protocols, led by Aave and Lido Finance, reveal their dominance and growth trajectories in the decentralized finance ecosystem as of December 2024. Source: Token Terminal

Revenue performance also reveals the power of these protocols. AAVE grew 27.5% over the last 30 days to $12.5 million, and LDO reached $9.6 million thanks to 24% platform growth.

Beyond deposits, the DeFi ecosystem also broke records in transaction volumes on decentralized exchanges, reaching almost $380 billion in volume during November, according to TheBlock. In fact, the share of trading volume carried out on DEXs, as opposed to centralized exchanges, reached the second highest level ever recorded in October, at 13.86%, just behind the 14.18% seen in May 2023.

The DeFi lending market has also grown significantly, with the total of available loans reaching $21 billion in December. This is the largest monthly figure to date. Yield farming and staking represent one of the most important tools of DeFi and create a $200 billion stablecoin market. The tools allow users to earn rewards or borrow money using stablecoins. They are powered by DEXs and liquidity pools and ensure that price slippage is only minimal in high-activity markets. Stablecoins can also migrate to different blockchain networks, further increasing their versatility and ease of use.