Below is a list of the 21 decentralized finance (DeFi) projects built on Ethereum that have the most TVL (total value locked) in their ecosystem. But first, here’s a quick intro on the terms:
What is Ethereum?
Launched in 2015, Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain which specializes in smart contract functionality enabling it to be a functional platform for decentralized applications. Ether (ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, Ether is second only to Bitcoin (BTC) in market capitalization.
What is DeFi?
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an emerging financial technology utilizing blockchain technology. The system removes the control banks and institutions have on money, financial products, and financial services. Instead the decentralized system is controlled by pre-determined smart contracts.
Some of the key attractions of DeFi for many consumers are:
- It eliminates the fees that banks and other financial companies charge for using their services.
- You hold your money in a secure digital wallet instead of keeping it in a bank.
- Anyone with an internet connection can use it without needing approval.
- You can transfer funds in seconds and minutes.
What is TVL?
Total value locked (TVL) is the sum of all cryptocurrencies staked, loaned, deposited in a pool, or used for other financial actions across all of DeFi.
Without further ado, here are the top 21 Ethereum projects with the most TVL as of April 24, 2022:
The Top 21 DeFi Projects by TVL
21. DeFi Saver — $456.8 million
DeFi Saver is a lending platform built on Ethereum.
20. TrueFi — $465 million
TrueFi is also a lending platform built on Ethereum.
19. C.R.E.A.M. Finance — $467.6 million
C.R.E.A.M. Finance is another lending platform built on Ethereum.
18. Quickswap — $551.6 million
Quickswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Polygon.
17. Tornado Cash — $575.1 million
Tornado Cash is a payments platform built on Ethereum.
16. Flexa — $589.3 million
Flexa is also a payments platform built on Ethereum.
15. Alpha Homora — $763.1 million
Alpha Homora is an Ethereum-based lending platform.
14. Rari Capital — $863 million
Rari Capital is another Ethereum-based lending platform.
13. dYdX — $1.01 billion
dYdX is one of 13 platforms in the billion dollar TVL club. It is also the only derivative platform on the list.
12. Liquity — $1.4 billion
Liquity is a lending platform on Ethereum.
11. SushiSwap — $1.4 billion
SishiSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum.
10. Bancor — $1.84 billion
Bancor is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum.
9. Balancer —$2.19 billion
Balancer is one of nine platforms in the multi-billion TVL club, and is another Ethereum-based DEX.
8. yearn.finance — $2.34 billion
yearn.finance is a popular Ethereum-based landing platform.
7. InstaDApp — $5.10 billion
InstaDApp is another popular Ethereum-based landing platform.
6. Compound — $5.98 billion
Another Ethereum based lending platform. Compound suffered an infamous incident in October 2021, when a bug caused the platform to over-distribute $162 million in Compound tokens.
5. Uniswap — $7.04 billion
This legendary Ethereum DEX was at the heart of the explosion of DeFi during the DeFi summer of 2020.
4. Convex Finance — $9.56 billion
Convex Finance allows Curve.fi (see #3 below) liquidity providers to earn trading fees and claim boosted Curve (CRV) tokens without locking $CRV. Liquidity providers can receive boosted $CRV and liquidity mining rewards with minimal effort.
3. Curve Finance — $9.89 billion
Curve is a decentralized exchange liquidity pool on Ethereum designed for extremely efficient stable coin trading. Launched in January 2020, Curve allows users to trade between stable coins with low slippage, low fee algorithm designed specifically for stable coins and earning fees.
2. Aave — $10.99 billion
The popular lending platform is multichain, operating on Ethereum and Polygon, and was one of the pioneers of flash loans. It has over $10 billion in TVL, making it #2 in the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.
1. Maker— $14.52 billion
The king of the hill is Maker, another ERC-20 token. MakerDAO is a decentralized credit platform on Ethereum that supports Dai, a stablecoin whose value is pegged to USD
The data courtesy of DeFiPulse.com
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This content is for news and educational purposes only. It does not constitute trading advice. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. The author of this article may hold assets mentioned in the piece.
