The demand for Bitcoin is driving positive sentiment across the crypto industry, propelling the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to exceed $100 billion on March 9, according to data from DefiLlama. This significant milestone comes amid a resurgence in positive sentiment in the crypto markets, fueled by the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January.
DeFi total value locked on March 9, 2024. Source: DefiLlama.
The global TVL in DeFi protocols reached $100.1 billion, marking the first time in nearly two years that DeFi TVL has surpassed the $100 billion mark. Despite this achievement, the current figures still fall short of the record $189 billion reached in November 2021.
Leading the charts in TVL is the liquid staking protocol Lido, with $38.7 billion locked on-chain, followed by the staking ecosystem EigenLayer and the AAVE protocol, boasting $11.5 billion in TVL.
The positive sentiment in the crypto markets is attributed to the institutional demand for Bitcoin ETFs, which has propelled Bitcoin to new all-time highs, surpassing $70,000 on March 8. Assets in Bitcoin ETFs reached $28 billion on the same day, according to BitMEX Research, excluding assets from Grayscale’s fund, which converted to an ETF in January.
Rumors on social media platforms, such as X (formerly Twitter), suggest that OTC trading platforms are running out of Bitcoin and turning to public exchanges to fulfill orders from clients. This surge in demand has led to several centralized crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bybit, experiencing outages due to increased trading volume.
As Bitcoin’s gains continue, there has been a notable surge in memecoins over the past few days. Memecoin KORRA has seen a remarkable 577% rise in the last seven days, followed by Ribbit (RIBBIT) with a 235% surge and PUG AI (PUGAI) soaring 232% in the same period. Popular tokens like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE) have also witnessed gains of 168% and 165%, respectively. The market capitalization of memecoins currently stands at $61 billion.
The confluence of positive developments in both Bitcoin and DeFi is contributing to a bullish atmosphere in the crypto industry, with investors closely monitoring the evolving market dynamics.