From 2025 to date, it has been a very friendly year for DeFi.
Our regulatory environment has shifted from an adversarial stance led by Gary Gensler at the SEC to a now crypto-friendly landscape. And by almost all metrics, DeFi adoption continues to increase.
So I think it's time to carefully examine 7 charts related to the current state of DeFi.
Decentralized Exchange Trading Volume to Centralized Exchanges Reaches New Highs
Source: The Block
Although slow, the trend is clear: decentralized exchanges are gradually eating into the market share of centralized exchanges.
In June 2022, the market share of perpetual DEX in derivatives was only 0.98%. Three years later, this figure has grown 11 times.
Fluid is the Fastest Growing DEX
Source: defillama
Reports indicate that Fluid, in less than a year since its launch, has temporarily surpassed the leading DEX Uniswap on Ethereum.
Fluid DEX V2 is about to launch, and I wouldn't be surprised if Fluid ultimately wins the DEX battle on Ethereum.
In terms of capital efficiency, V2 is expected to be far superior to the V1 version.
Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Tops Inflow Chart for the First Time
Source: Artemis
Recently, Ethena's stablecoin USDe first surpassed USDT and USDC in net inflows over two weeks.
Why is this change so important?
USDT and USDC have long dominated the stablecoin market, but now crypto-native solutions are emerging to challenge their leading position.
My prediction is that Resolv, Ethena, and Falcon Finance will continue to grow exponentially in the coming months.
Spot Ethereum ETF Performs Well, But Growth is Slowing
Source: Coinglass
After weeks of continuously breaking daily inflow records, the Ethereum spot ETF recently recorded its largest single-day outflow on record.
The reason might be that some traditional financial giants have taken profits.
However, from a macro perspective, the past two months have been the best performance period for the spot Ethereum ETF to date.
DeFi is Approaching AI's Mind Share
Source: Kaito
For over a year, AI has been leading in mind share.
But this is changing, with DeFi's attention growing more than twice in the past few months. Meanwhile, meme coin attention has significantly decreased.
Fundamentals are becoming important again.
Projects with Token Buyback Plans Perform Best in 2025
Source: Dexu AI
This marks the market's growing preference for tokens with solid fundamentals. Protocol subcategories with token buybacks include Hyperliquid, PumpFun, Maple, EtherFi, Kaito, AAVE, and others.
Exchange BTC Reserves Continue to Decline
Source: Crypto Quant
Since February 2024 (shortly after the launch of the first US Bitcoin spot ETFs), exchange BTC reserves have continued to decrease, which is contrary to previous bull markets.
During this cycle, the inflow of Bitcoin ETF funds and the purchase demand generated by crypto asset custody companies have had a huge positive impact on BTC prices.
In summary, these are all the data charts to be presented in this issue.
