Cardano DeFi Value Nears $450M as ADA Soars 17% Amid Layer 1 Boost

• Growth in Value Locked on Cardano's Ecosystem
• Rise in Total Value Locked (TVL) of Cardano-based Projects
• Djed DJED Stablecoin Supply Increase
• Growth in Value Locked in Smaller Protocols
• Impact on Cardano's ADA Token
• Rising Trend in Cardano's DeFi Ecosystem

Growth in Value Locked on Cardano's Ecosystem

The rate of growth of value locked in Cardano's ecosystem has experienced a significant uptick over recent weeks. This surge is potentially fueled by the increased interest in alternatives to Ethereum$2,315 -2.42%, such as Solana$104 5.03% and Avalanche, as crypto investors and users seek diverse blockchains to achieve returns and optimally allocate their capital.

Rise in Total Value Locked (TVL) of Cardano-based Projects

The total value locked (TVL) in all projects based on Cardano surpassed $440 million earlier this week, exceeding an erstwhile peak of $330 million recorded in April. The majority of this expansion appears to have taken place over the last week. Notably, lending protocol Indigo and on-chain exchange Minswap experienced a surge of over 50% in their TVL, reaching nearly $100 million each.

Djed DJED Stablecoin Supply Increase

Djed DJED, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, experienced a supply increase of over 45% in the past week. This increase suggests an inflow of capital towards the token as investors sought to capitalize on yields.

Growth in Value Locked in Smaller Protocols

Simultaneously, the value locked in smaller protocols such as LendFi and Spectrum Finance, has seen a substantial increase of 90%. This suggests that users are beginning to take riskier bets.

Impact on Cardano's ADA Token

Such on-chain growth has had a positive effect on the price of Cardano's ADA token, which is used to compensate for network activity. These tokens saw a 17% surge over the past 24 hours, further extending monthly gains to nearly 80%. This also led to a 100% growth in leveraged futures bets on ADA price volatility for the same period.

Rising Trend in Cardano's DeFi Ecosystem

In parallel with other blockchains, Cardano's DeFi ecosystem has also seen a boost. The total capital locked or staked across all decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols reached the $50 billion milestone at the beginning of December, for the first time in six months. This growth has been primarily driven by protocols within the Solana ecosystem, due to a recent surge in optimism surrounding this blockchain.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker