Decentralized Finance or DeFi is a term that covers financial services on public blockchains. The use of DeFi allows users to use most banking services, such as lending, borrowing, trading and more, but is faster and without any paperwork.
We could say that DeFi aims to disrupt the traditional financial industry by making it decentralized and non-custodial. Let’s take a look at the 10 biggest DeFi cryptocurrencies.
10 Biggest DeFi Cryptocurrencies
Q3 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Launched in 2017, it is the governance token of the MakerDAO and Maker Protocol that enables users to issue and manage the DAI stablecoin. MKR is down by over 73% year to date and down almost 28% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, MKR is trading at $655.43, giving the cryptocurrency a market capitalization of more than $640 million. MKR has an all-time high of $6,339.02 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $21.06 (January 2017).
Launched in November 2017 as ETHLend, Aave was rebranded to its current name in September 2018. It is a decentralized finance protocol that enables users to lend and borrow crypto. AAVE is down by almost 77% year to date and down almost 27% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, AAVE is trading at $62.14, giving it a market capitalization of more than $875 million. AAVE has an all-time high of $666.86 (May 2021).
Launched in 2018, this blockchain network is based on smart contracts, and its approach allows it to embrace developments in blockchain technology. XTZ is down by over 79% year to date and down almost 32% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, XTZ is trading at $0.9866, giving it a market capitalization of more than $905 million. XTZ has an all-time high of $9.18 (October 2021) and an all-time low of $0.3146 (December 2018).
Launched in March 2019, this blockchain-powered network facilitates video streaming. THETA is down by over 81% year to date and down almost 22% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, THETA is trading at $0.9355, giving the cryptocurrency a market capitalization of more than $935 million. THETA has an all-time high of $15.90 (April 2021) and an all-time low of $0.03977 (March 2020).
Launched in April 2019, this blockchain protocol utilizes fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payment systems. LUNC is down by over 100% year to date and down over 36% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, LUNC is trading at $0.0001611, giving it a market cap of more than $965 million. LUNC has an all-time high of $119.18 (April 2022) and an all-time low of $0.00001675 (March 2022).
Launched in January 2019, it is Bitcoin’s tokenized version that is compliant with ERC-20. It helps to bring Bitcoin into the world of Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem. WBTC is down by over 65% year to date and down over 20% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, WBTC is trading at $16,477.39, giving it a market capitalization of more than $3.56 billion. WBTC has an all-time high of $162,188.26 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $3,330.12 (February 2019).
Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that uses a decentralized oracle network to allow blockchains to securely interact with external points. LINK is down by over 64% year to date and down over 2% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, LINK is trading at $7.42, giving the cryptocurrency a market capitalization of more than $3.76 billion. LINK has an all-time high of $52.88 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $0.1263 (September 2017).
Launched in 2020, Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that focuses on decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. This blockchain has been working on developing its own ecosystem of DApps and DeFi. AVAX is down by almost 89% year to date and down over 32% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, AVAX is trading at $12.65, giving it a market cap of more than $3.80 billion. AVAX has an all-time high of $146.22 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $2.79 (December 2020).
Launched in November 2018, Uniswap is a decentralized trading protocol that facilitates automated trading of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens. UNI is down by over 68% year to date and down over 22% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, UNI is trading at $5.50, giving the cryptocurrency a market capitalization of more than $4.19 billion. UNI has an all-time high of $44.97 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $0.419 (September 2020).
Launched in November 2019, Dai is an Ethereum-based stablecoin that is soft-pegged to the U.S. dollar. It is collateralized using a mix of other cryptocurrencies. DAI is up by almost 1% year to date and up almost 1% in the last 30 days.
As of this writing, DAI is trading at $1, giving the crypto a market capitalization of more than $5.60 billion. DAI has an all-time high of $3.67 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.9455 (May 2020).
