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On the 30th of January DeFi dapps Uniswap (UNI), and Compound (COMP) both surged to new all-time highs as the whole Decentralized Finance (DeFi) industry continued to mature in 2021.
UNI surged to a new all-time high price of $20.03 as the price of COMP temporarily rose to over $343. At the time of writing, COMP has continued to rise and is currently trading at over $366.
Uniswap’s grant program was uncovered on January the 20th as a way to help expand the exchange’s ecosystem. Since the release of the grants program, the price of the UNI governance token has increased from $7.71 on January 20th to its current price of $20.03.
Other factors influencing the price surge are rising total value locked (TVL), daily transaction volume, and growing enthusiasm in the investor community for the expected launch of Uniswap v3.
The surge in COMP price accompanies the release of a new governance module and upgrade to the COMP.vote interface which now allows community members to save on gas fees through voting by signature instead of on-chain transactions.
DeFi dapps TVL
In the past 30 days, the whole DeFi sector has seen a substantial upwards trend, and data from DappRadar shows TVL has soared from $20.33 billion on January 3rd to a new all-time high of $30.37 billion on February 1st.
However, looking at DappRadar’s unique aTVL or inflation-adjusted total value locked metric a different picture of the DeFi sector can be seen. Rising TVL caused by increasing token values locked within DeFi protocols can distort the image.
aTVL shows that the value locked in DeFi has been rising in 2021 but at a much more reserved rate once the token price increases are factored out. aTVL today is $14.1 billion and on the 3rd January 2021 was $12.9 billion. An increase of $1.2 billion according to the DappRadar DeFi page.
The Robin Hood effect
Last week was shrouded in controversy as investment brokers put a stop to markets for GameStop and AMC stocks. Whilst the actions are still being debated, the story has presented DeFi dapps and exchanges with an immediate opportunity to appeal to retail investors.
In-summary
Decentralized finance had an incredible 2020 and early signs show no indication of a slow down as we move into the second month of 2021. Record TVL figures, increased user activity, protocol developments, improvements in speed, efficiency, and user interfaces are driving a new wave of interested people to DeFi.
Moreover, unlikely catalysts such as the GameStop controversy are helping to spread the word of a new system with inherent fairness and transparency that could have found its moment to resonate with a larger audience.
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