Data Shows Decentralized Finance Took a Hit in Q2 but Is Still Booming

While decentralized finance took a hit in Q2, stats still show there is an important movement in these protocols. Data taken from Messari’s Q2’21 defi review show that decentralized exchanges are busy settling important numbers.

Decentralized Finance Bruised but Still Up

The decentralized finance paradigm stormed the market this year, and while it certainly took a hit, it is still healthy. According to numbers extracted from Messari’s Q2’21 defi review report, there is still significant activity going on in the decentralized market. Decentralized exchanges, one of the core engines of the ecosystem, are still moving important amounts of funds. These settled $405 billion during the last quarter, an increase of 83% over the $221 billion settled on Q1.

However, exchange volumes fell during May to $95 billion from the $203.5 billion in May. The general deceleration of the cryptocurrency market affected the sector significantly. In any case, June was a noteworthy month in the story of decentralized exchanges, even with the steep fall.

Uniswap V3 launched during Q2, becoming the dominating force in the environment in less than two weeks. Uniswap V3 now settles 40% of the volumes exchanged in decentralized finance. Pancakeswap, the top exchange on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), follows in third place with its volumes falling after the May crash.

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Reaching for Institutions

Some of the top protocols in the decentralized environment are expanding into institutional markets, to extend their reach to more stable business. This is the case of Compound, a leading decentralized exchange that launched Treasury, a fixed rewards product for businesses last month. Metamask, the preferred wallet for decentralized finance, also launched an initiative last April trying to capture the segment of institutions wanting to dabble in the defi ecosystem.

With current interest rates, any of these institutions can propose a product that offers more yield than traditional finance products. Aave, another decentralized finance protocol, will also offer Aave Pro later this month, to draw in these institutional players.

In the same vein, Circle, part of the consortium that issues USDC, is going public via a SPAC deal later this year. While Tether still holds most of the stablecoin dominance, USDC has become popular on decentralized finance protocols in the last quarter.

What do you think about defi’s performance during Q2 2021? Tell us in the comment section below.