The Solana-based liquidity staking derivative (LSD) coin Marinade ($MNDE) has seen an impressive 160% increase this weekend, with its price jumping from $0.03 to $0.08, as the interest in the LSD complex continues to grow. In comparison, Lybra Finance ($LBR), which reached an all-time high of above $0.05 last week, has experienced a dramatic retrace and is now trading at $0.01045. With varying interest levels in both protocols, investors may find themselves questioning which coin will bring the most value over time.
The Marinade protocol has been around since 2021, and its total value locked (TVL) has fallen drastically from $1.87 billion in November 2021 to a mere $119 million today. Contrarily, Lybra, which has propelled its TVL from zero to $200 million, currently stands at $188 million. As both coins are part of a broader DeFi 2.0 (Next Gen DeFi) trend, it is important to keep an eye on potential future developments, particularly those revolving around stETH.
The Ethereum Shanghai upgrade on April 12 allowed stakers to claim rewards for the first time, and since then, the trajectory of staking has steepened, as depicted in the Glassnode chart. ETH 2.0 TVL has risen to $24 billion, with inflows growing rapidly since May 30th, showcasing no signs of halting.
Despite the proportion of gas fees spent on DeFi activities decreasing since the end of 2020, there are subtle indications that this trend could be changing. The top players in the stETH space, including Lido, Rocket, Frax, Coinbase, Ankr, and Binance, have been listed by DeFiLlama. Three other participants generating interest within the sector are DerivaDEX, Linear Finance, and Injective.
DerivaDEX, which started in 2020, is a decentralized derivatives exchange backed by high-profile venture capital names such as Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Electric Capital, and Coinbase. Its price has risen by 11% today to reach $0.3623. Linear.Finance, focusing on trading liquidity staking tokens (LSTs) with its LUSD token, has observed a price surge of 26% in the past 7 days, now trading at $0.01671. Lastly, Injective, an all-inclusive DeFi-focused Layer 1 blockchain (Cosmos), has experienced a 17% price boost in the past 7 days, reaching $7.90.
Tokens that produce yields from staking, such as Wall Street Memes ($WSM), may offer alternative ways to gain exposure to the elusive LSD market. Wall Street Memes, a community-first coin backed by an audience of 1 million followers spread across Instagram and Twitter, is currently in the pre-sale phase and has captured more than $3.7 million from investors within a week. Other promising projects in the DeFi 2.0 space include Ecoterra, a recycle-to-earn app, and yPredict, an AI-powered trading platform that provides passive income.
Source: Cryptonews
