Over the past few months, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency and blockchain by market capitalization, has been seeing a Cambrian explosion in its decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. And this explosion of innovation and activity has led to a bit of a shakeup in the DeFi leaderboards.<\/p>\n
For the longest time, DeFi platforms and protocols MakerDAO \u2014 a provider of loans in the algorithmic stablecoin DAI \u2014 and Compound \u2014 a platform that allows users to lend out and borrow everything from USDCoin and ETH to Basic Attention Token and 0x (ZRX) \u2014 were at the top of the game.<\/p>\n
But as pointed out by Doggie Tail Crypto Capital partner Spencer Noon, things are changing. He remarked in a recent tweet<\/a> that Synthetix<\/a>, a DeFi protocol for decentralized synthetic assets that allow users to trade a commodities vehicle in a decentralized manner, now has $103.5 million worth of assets locked up in its contracts. This has allowed it to surmount Compound, which has $103 million worth of assets in its contracts.<\/p>\n Spencer Noon attributes this to two\/three things: 1) MakerDAO cut its stability fees, 2) meaning that many users may prefer to get loans through Maker than through Compound, while 3) the price of Synthetix’s native token has begun to surge, rallying by 56% in the past 30 days.<\/p>\n Major shakeup in #DeFi<\/a> as Synthetix overtakes Compound for #2 on @defipulse<\/a> with $103.5m locked.<\/p>\n Factors contributing to this move:<\/p>\n 1. @MakerDAO<\/a> stability fee cut Signs of a healthy ecosystem. pic.twitter.com\/4yUkycN8dx<\/a><\/p>\n — Spencer Noon \ud83d\udd5b (@spencernoon) November 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
2. @compoundfinance<\/a> users refinancing to Maker
3. $SNX<\/a> surging (+56% last 30 days)<\/p>\n