The decentralised finance (DeFi) market has soared to a three-year high, with total value locked (TVL) hitting $153 billion on Monday, according to DefiLlama. This milestone follows a major price rally in Ethereum (ETH), which climbed past $3,900 before settling slightly lower.
Over the past month, Ethereum has jumped by over 60%, rising from $2,423 to nearly $3,900, and is currently trading around $3,786. This surge has been fuelled by growing institutional interest, with companies like Sharplink Gaming and BitMine adding ETH to their treasuries. Sharplink recently allocated $1.3 billion, bringing its total ETH holdings to over $360,000, while BitMine struck a $2 billion purchase agreement.
These high-profile moves have sparked renewed enthusiasm across the DeFi ecosystem, pushing TVL above its December 2024 peak. The last time DeFi saw comparable levels was in May 2022, shortly before the Terra ecosystem collapse erased $60 billion in value.
Ethereum continues to lead the DeFi space, accounting for nearly 60% of all assets locked in DeFi platforms. Top protocols such as Lido and Aave are at the forefront, hosting between $32 billion and $34 billion in TVL.
Rather than simply holding crypto, investors are increasingly turning to DeFi platforms to earn returns. Staking ETH offers yields between 1.5% and 4% annually, but more aggressive strategies are gaining traction.
A notable example is a yield farming strategy shared by crypto influencer OlimpioCrypto. This strategy loops USDC and sUSDC on the Unichain network via protocols Euler and Spark. This method reportedly delivers annual returns between 25% and 35%, leveraging liquidity incentives from Spark (SSR, OP) and Euler (rEUL, USDC rewards).
