Maker and the Spark Protocol
Maker stands out for its strategic investments in US Treasury bonds, capitalizing on rising interest rates to capture yield. The Spark Protocol subDAO, part of Founder Rune Christensen’s vision for Maker’s future, offered investors exposure to T-bill yield through a locked version of the DAI stablecoin. At its peak, the locked DAI’s yield reached 8%, making it an exemplary real-world asset.
Lido’s Staked Ether (stETH)
Lido capitalized on Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake in 2022 by allowing users to stake their ether on the platform in exchange for tokenized staked ether (stETH). This token pays users staking rewards and can be traded or used as collateral. With a market capitalization exceeding $20 billion, stETH has become the ninth-largest cryptocurrency. While Lido handles over 32% of all staked ether, concerns over the platform’s centralized position on the network have sparked debates.
PancakeSwap and Concentrated Liquidity
PancakeSwap is the second-largest decentralized exchange (DEX) by volume, trailing behind Uniswap. In March, PancakeSwap launched v3, focusing on concentrated liquidity. This enables liquidity providers (LPs) to concentrate their funds within specific ranges, increasing the likelihood of their liquidity being utilized for trades and earning fees. As the dominant DeFi app on the BNB Smart Chain, PancakeSwap derives nearly all its volume from the chain.
Convex and Curve
Convex, an asset management protocol, allows LPs and stakers to lock up tokens issued by Curve and earn yield. As the second-largest DEX on Ethereum after Uniswap, Curve’s performance significantly impacts Convex. By amplifying yield from Curve’s CRV tokens, Convex controls 48% of vote-escrowed Curve tokens and a third of vote-escrowed Frax tokens.
Perpetual Swaps and GMX
Perpetual swaps (perps) offer DeFi traders the ability to engage in highly leveraged trades without requiring vast amounts of capital. Unlike traditional futures, perps don’t have an expiration date tied to the buying or selling of assets. GMX, the largest protocol on Arbitrum in terms of TVL, received a substantial grant allocation of 12 million ARB, worth approximately $14 million at current prices, as part of the layer-2’s October grant distribution.