Daniel, Jan 2023
Data source: Stats about the DeFi Industry from 2022
DeFi is in a paradoxical position of being intensely distrusted after the events of 2022 while remaining foundational for future blockchain applications.
On the one hand, DeFi projects had countless hacks and one of the most disastrous collapses in tech/internet history with Terra. Combined with macro conditions, these factors caused the DeFi market to decline significantly, even more than other blockchain sectors, last year. On the other hand, you can’t have GameFi without DeFi, and NFT marketplaces are increasingly integrating DeFi elements like staking and tokenization.
In the year’s second half, NFTs and GameFi overtook DeFi in terms of public and investor interest. However, DeFi is far from dead. Even though the vast majority of DeFi projects ceased to be active (as this list will show), several protocols and categories performed well, indicating that — weathering the storm so far — they are likely to survive the bear market and thrive in the future.
In the spirit of DYOR, we’ve collected the most important stats about DeFi from 2022, so you can look into the industry. By looking back on the year, you can make smarter investments and analyses going forward.
The crypto DeFi sector had a rough year, whose downturn kicked off with Fed rate hikes, exacerbated by the collapse of Terra and continued hacks, collapses and macro conditions.
Reference: DeFi TVL
Note that not all of these protocols are active. In fact, as seen in Stat 9, less than 100 are currently active.
Reference: Monthly Total Number of DeFi Protocols
The Terra network was a Layer 1 blockchain known for its high yields and algorithmic stablecoin, UST.
Reference: Terra Dashboard
This is unsurprisingly given that DEXs play a critical part in DeFi infrastructure. In the future, lending protocols will have a more difficult time considering the consequences of over-leveraging in 2022.
Reference: TVL Distribution on Different Category (2021)* *and TVL Distribution on Different Category (Click to Explore More)
This stat has the market cap of DeFi tokens as the sum of tokens issued by DeFi protocols. It does not include L1 and L2 tokens commonly used for DeFi, like Ethereum and Solana.
Reference: DeFi Token Market Cap vs BTC Market Cap
By comparison, the market cap of BTC on this date was $318.41B
Reference: DeFi Token Market Cap vs BTC Market Cap
The stock market correlation index is measured from a 1 to -1 scale, with 1 indicating the two sets of prices are always moving in the same direction and -1 that they’re never moving in the same direction.
Reference: 2022: BTC & S&P 500 Price Correlation Analysis
By comparison, it reached the 8–10 range in the immediate aftermath of the Terra Luna collapse, and remained above 10 after the FTX collapse.
Reference: 2022 Token Price VS F&G
An active project is defined by Footprint Analytics average daily active users in the past 5 days is greater than 100**.**
Reference: Active Projects by Chain
Active projects make up a tiny portion of total protocols, with most failing to have any TVL.
Reference: Active Projects by Chain
With the benefit of having both the worlds largest CEX, Binance, and the BNB Smart Chain, Binance is able to offer competitive ecosystem incentives and grants.
Reference:Active Projects by Chain
Polygon is an EVM L2 solution with a span performance in 2022 across several sectors of the blockchain industry, especially DeFi and gaming.
Reference: Active Projects by Chain
The Ethereum network made DeFi possible and was the first mover in the industry. However, it’s congestion and high gas fees have severely limited possibilities for developers.
Reference: Active Projects by Chain
This made it the 2nd biggest chain by this metric, having surpassed BNB in December. Note that by TVL, Ethereum consistently had the highest
Reference: TVL by Chain (Except Ethereum)
Reference: TVL by Chain
Solana had several highly promising GameFi and DeFi project at the start of the year and looked like it could realistically be a contender for overtaking Ethereum. However, these failed to be sustainable.
Reference: TVL by Chain
UNI is the governance token of Uniswap, the world’s largest and most popular DEX. It is based on Ethereum.
Reference: Top 5 Protocol Token Market Cap
Lido allows users to optimize returns on their staked assets by tokenizing their deposits.
Reference: Top 5 Protocol Token Market Cap
Reference: Proportion of DEX TVL
Curve is one of the original DeFi protocols and is built to generate yield on stablecoins.
Reference: Proportion of DEX TVL
Tether is an asset-backed stablecoin that’s seen its share of controversy in 2022. However, despite USDC reaching within $10B in TVL in summer, USDT has expanded its lead since then.
Reference: Top 5 Stablecoins by Market Cap
According to its website, Lithosphere “is a next-generation network for cross-chain decentralized applications powered by AI and Deep Learning.”
Reference: DeFi Fundraising Stats
Reference: DeFi Fundraising Stats
Reference: DeFi Investment Amount in 2022
Reference: Investment Funding Breakdown in 2021 & 2022
This piece is contributed by Footprint Analytics community.
The Footprint Community is a place where data and crypto enthusiasts worldwide help each other understand and gain insights about Web3, the metaverse, DeFi, GameFi, or any other area of the fledgling world of blockchain. Here you’ll find active, diverse voices supporting each other and driving the community forward.
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