Liquid staking now has the biggest total value locked (TVL) among decentralized finance (DeFi) sub-sectors following an impressive growth of over 131% since the start of the year.
According to Binance Research, liquid staking in unseated decentralized exchanges (DEXes) was the leading DeFi sub-sector on April 28th with a difference of $6.8 million in TVL.
Liquid staking is now the most common way for users to stake Ethereum () with a share of 37.1% in the total ETH staking market.
Unlike traditional staking which requires users to lock up their tokens for a period of time to get rewards, liquid staking enables users to stake tokens and earn yields while still retaining liquidity through a liquid staking token (LST), which they can trade, lend and use as collateral.
“Notable developments have emerged in DeFi since the beginning of the year, largely attributed to the remarkable ascent of liquid staking, which has become the largest sub-sector, alongside the increasing migration of users towards DEXes.”
As of June 30, the sub-sectors TVL market share among DeFi categories is 24%, surpassing that of the DEXes at 17.9%. Lending and bridge follow DEXes at 16.6% and 13%, respectively.
“Liquid staking emerged as the top gainer, bolstering its market share by a remarkable 74% to dominate the overall DeFi landscape. This surge appears to have eroded the market shares of DEXes, which fell from 23.2% to 17.9%, and other sectors, including CDP (collateralized debt position), yield, and minor DeFi categories.”
TVL in liquid staking remains largely concentrated on a few protocols though and largely monopolized by Lido DAO (
“Examining the liquid staking market, the first mover advantage of Lido is clearly discernible, maintaining its dominance with a 75.4% market share. With such a high level of market dominance, Lido has established an extensive integration network across diverse DeFi protocols, showcasing the protocol’s deep liquidity in the ecosystem.”
