Aave and Lido surpass $70 billion in net deposits

Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.

Money market Aave and liquid staking protocol Lido surpassed $70 billion in net deposits in December for the first time, according to data from TokenTerminal.

As of press time, the two largest DeFi protocols hold a total $67.42 billion.

Aave leads with $34.3 billion in deposits, just $1.1 billion higher than Lido’s. The net deposits directed at these two DeFi heavyweights represent 45.5% of the $148 billion allocated to the 20 largest decentralized applications.

However, regarding total value locked (TVL), Lido leads the DeFi ecosystem with $33.8 billion, with Aave coming in second with $20.6 billion. Net deposits represent the total deposited in a DeFi protocol, excluding fees and synthetic tokens, while TVL is the total allocated across all assets.

Moreover, Lido and Aave are among the top DeFi applications in revenue generation. Over the past 30 days, Aave’s revenue grew 27.5% to $12.5 million, making it the 10th largest protocol. 

Meanwhile, Lido registered $9.6 million in monthly revenue, fueled by a 24% growth rate, securing the spot of the 12th largest DeFi application by revenue.

DeFi resurgence

The DeFi ecosystem has been registering a strong performance in 2024. The sector’s total TVL soared 107%, reaching $185 billion as of press time and peaking at $212 billion on Dec. 16. This is the first time the TVL has surpassed the $200 billion threshold.

Other metrics The trading volume of decentralized exchanges reached new records on daily, weekly, and monthly timeframes. According to DefiLlama data, these protocols had a volume of nearly $380 billion in November.

Furthermore, according to data from The Block, the ratio between decentralized and centralized exchanges reached 13.9% in October, the second-highest level in history.

The lending market also grew, with active loans peaking at nearly $21 billion this month, the highest monthly number. This trend suggests that more users are comfortable using on-chain financial resources.

Additionally, the growth in active loans also contributed to the stablecoin market size, which is close to $200 billion, as per Artemis data. Users apply their crypto holdings as collateral and borrow stablecoins, adding liquidity to their stashes and growing their crypto exposure.