Several blockchains that established themselves as key technological infrastructures for decentralized finance (DeFi) over the past year are best placed to lead this space in 2024.

The DeFi world starred in a year of changes and advances that led to new trends and dynamics for the sector.

What did not change was Ethereum's leadership in building and developing decentralized applications or DApps and in the flow of money into DeFi. And this is expected to continue in this year that has just begun.

Blockchains DeFi 

The Total Value Locked (TVL) is one of the metrics that allows us to observe the economic and commercial panorama and the activity of protocols and blockchains within the DeFi ecosystem.

TVL refers to the total amount of cryptoassets deposited or locked within a DeFi platform, and therefore a blockchain, by users. The TVL allows us to assess the economic activity and interest of users within the world of decentralized finance.

Since May 2022, as a result of the cryptocurrency bear market, the DeFi TVL lost large numbers. However, in 2023 we can talk about progress, with an approximate annual growth of 40% for the TVL: more than $15 billion. In January, the TVL was $38.3 billion. After fluctuating between 40,000 and 50,000 million for much of the year, it closes 2023 above 53,700 million, according to Defillama metrics.

Evolution of TVL in DeFi throughout 2023. Source: Defillama.

Ethereum

#Ethereum $ETH  remains the undisputed leader of the DeFi ecosystem, with the highest TVL of all blockchains. The nearly 1,000 protocols tracked by Defillama add up to more than $29 billion in TVL within the blockchain, up from $22 billion at the start of the year. If we take into account the metrics of liquid staking platforms, such as Lido Finance, which is the main DeFi protocol within Ethereum, and Rocket Pool, the flow of money within the network rises to more than $57.5 billion. Other protocols such as Maker, AAVE and Uniswap also stand out as key to sustaining Ethereum's leadership in DeFi.

Evolution of TVL in Ethereum DeFi in 2023. Source: Defillama.

However, despite the annual growth, Ethereum's dominance decreased compared to previous years. This happens as protocols expand to new Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains and new dynamics emerge in other blockchain ecosystems.

TRON

#TRON was consolidated in 2023 as the second most important blockchain in DeFi. Despite having many fewer protocols than other blockchains, TRON's rise in DeFi allowed it to dethrone BNB Smart Chain as the second chain in the sector. TRON's TLV surpassed $8 billion in 2023, nearly doubling its metric in January ($4.1 billion).

Evolution of TVL in TRON DeFi in 2023. Source: Defillama.

Some keys to understanding the growth of TRON in DeFi are the low costs associated with network fees, its transactional speed, as well as the large flow of stablecoins, in particular Tether (USDT). Stablecoins, like USDT, are a fundamental piece for money movements within DeFi. On the other hand, we have the growth of TRON's native lending protocol, JustLend, which has stood out for its products and services to boost the assets of the TRON ecosystem. This has helped it add more than 6.1 billion in TVL, positioning itself as the fourth most important protocol in decentralized finance.

BNB Smart Chain (BSC)

In 2023, the $BNB #BNB Smart Chain lost much of its power within DeFi money. BSC's TVL dropped significantly over the year, declining more than $1 billion annually, from $4.65 billion in early January to just over $3.52 billion today. These are the lowest figures for the BNB Smart Chain in DeFi since March 2021, far from its all-time high of $21 billion reached that year.

Evolution of TVL in DeFi of BNB Smart Chain in 2023. Source: Defillama.

Pancakeswap largely underpins the DeFi capacity of the BNB Smart Chain and its ecosystem, with over 670 DApps, closing the year with over $1.5 billion in TVL. Despite seeing reduced money flow, BNB Smart Chain still maintains its leadership in DeFi activity, leading in terms of active wallets and transactions throughout the year in the sector, as Artemis data shows.

Decision

Scalability and transactional power at low cost have made Ethereum's second layer or Layer 2 network, #Arbitrum , one of the main DeFi financial blockchains. Arbitrum is the fourth network with the largest TV: more than $2.4 billion at the end of 2023, doubling the 1 billion with which it began the year.

Evolución del TVL en DeFi de Arbitrum en 2023. Fuente: Defillama

The Arbitrum ecosystem in DeFi flourished considerably, thanks to the integration and launch of protocols, accumulating more than 515 DApps, according to figures from Defillama. They highlight the decentralized derivatives platform, GMX, the main driver of Arbitrum's TVL in DeFi, along with popular platforms, such as Uniswap and AAVE, integrated with the second layer network.

Solana

In general, both Solana as a blockchain and SOL as a cryptocurrency performed remarkably in 2023. A great fourth quarter of the year, coinciding with the growth of Solana as a project, has allowed it to establish itself as the fifth largest blockchain in terms of TVL. After remaining below $330 million throughout the year, in late October, Solana's TVL climb grew substantially, reaching a high of $1.5 billion. Currently it remains at $1.3 billion. At the beginning of January, the TVL of this blockchain was $210 million.

Evolution of TVL in Solana DeFi in 2023. Source: Defillama.

The transactional dominance of the Solana blockchain and its efficiency are key to understanding the rise of the network within decentralized finance. Compared to the other 4 blockchains, Solana hosted the highest number of transactions in 2023, according to Artemis data. Protocols such as Marinade Finance, Jito, Solend and Raydium stand out within Solana's decentralized finance ecosystem.

Another metric that explains the great year-end of $SOL #Solana in DeFi is the trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX), where protocols like Raydium and Orca accumulate more than $4.4 billion and $3.3 billion in weekly volume, respectively. In December, Solana added a monthly volume of more than $25.8 billion, according to data from Defillama.

*Las cifras de TVL de Defillama no incluyen staking, staking líquido, vesting, LP tokens, préstamos y depósitos duplicados

SOURCE: observatorioblockchain.com