# ReDeFining DeFi, 301030 *Decentralised Lending* By [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei) · 2024-12-28 defi, lending, borrowing --- Let's continue the series with a closer look at the next sub-sector, decentralised lending **_301030, Decentralised Lending _Definition**: Protocols offering lending and borrowing services, often using collateralised assets in liquidity pools. It is worth noting that nearly every protocol in this category is pursuing a broader mission than the core lending/borrowing operations enable, thus making stronger arguments for creating a broader 3010 Sectoral overview for projects which are active in multiple DeFi verticals, but not strictly focused on one. The combined sub-sector Market Cap stands at $8,508m as of 27/12/2024, up c. 119% from $3,890m as of 01/01/2024, compared to c. 101% growth in the total crypto Market Cap over the course of 2024. Notably, nine of the tokens included below have not been trading in January 2024, with three of them only on the market for a few weeks, so their base values are the most recent ones available. Without $AAVE and its $3b+ value creation, the sub-sector would've only seen c. 50% growth YTD. Below is the proposed composition of the 301030 sub-sector, from largest to smallest by market cap, having reviewed 350+ projects throughout the past few weeks from both the context-of-use and exchange accessibility perspectives: 1. **$AAVE** A leading decentralised lending protocol by TVL, providing lending and borrowing services through liquidity pools. Clear definition of the sub-sector with c. 60% dominance over it **Market Cap:** $5,068m **YTD:** +216% 2. **$COMP** One of the pioneering protocols in decentralised lending with somewhat decreased developer activity **Market Cap:** $703m **YTD:** +79% 3. **$MORPHO** Optimises yields on lending protocols, enhancing efficiency in broader decentralised lending space **Market Cap:** $455m **YTD:** +300% (from 26/11/24) 4. **$JST** Provides decentralised lending and stablecoin issuance on the Tron network **Market Cap:** $379m **YTD:** +34% 5. **$KMNO** Solana's leading lending-focused protocol with an intent-based exchange platform **Market Cap:** $221m **YTD:** +177% (from 03/05/24) 6. **$LQTY** Offers interest-free borrowing using ETH as collateral, also a $BOLD stablecoin issuer **Market Cap:** $206m **YTD:** +47% 7. **$WELL** A leading lending protocol on Base **Market Cap:** $192m **YTD:** +1,747% 8. **$XVS** A leading multi-chain protocol to borrow, lend and earn **Market Cap:** $154m **YTD:** -14% 9. **$GFI** A credit protocol with a focus on interoperability **Market Cap:** $137m **YTD:** +72% 10. **$GEAR** A permissionless credit layer for DeFi with up to 10x leverage **Market Cap:** $127m **YTD:** +393% 11. **$TRU** Facilitates uncollateralised loans in the DeFi space **Market Cap:** $111m **YTD:** +74% 12. **$SYRUP** Focuses on decentralised lending with RWA elements, $MPL for institutionals, $SYRUP otherwise **Market Cap:** $92m **YTD:** +40% (from 17/11/24) 13. **$SEND** Sui's DeFi suite, with a focus on lending, liquid staking and an AMM **Market Cap:** $90m **YTD:** -32% (from 12/12/24) 14. **$QI** Lending and liquid staking protocol on Avalanche **Market Cap:** $86m **YTD:** +5% 15. **$SLND** Solana's DeFi suite, 1/1 migration from to $SAVE ongoing. The same team that's behind Suilend **Market Cap:** $69m **YTD:** -36% 16. **$EUL** Lending and borrowing protocol with a focus on capital efficiency **Market Cap:** $68m **YTD:** -8% 17. **$MPL** Focuses on decentralised lending with RWA elements, $MPL for institutionals, $SYRUP otherwise **Market Cap:** $68m **YTD:** -51% 18. **$ALCX** Enables self-repaying loans, a novel approach in decentralised lending **Market Cap:** $46m **YTD:** -31% 19. **$STRIKE** A DeFi money market on Ethereum **Market Cap:** $44m **YTD:** -30% 20. **$NAVX** A protocol on Sui focused on lending and liquid staking **Market Cap:** $42m **YTD:** +257% (from 23/03/24) 21. **$UFT** A permissionless lending and borrowing protocol, pivoting into AI agents **Market Cap:** $32m **YTD:** +37% 22. **$INV** A fixed-rate lending protocol, which manages its own stablecoin **Market Cap:** $29m **YTD:** +62% 23. **$SEAM** A lending and borrowing protocol on Base **Market Cap:** $29m **YTD:** -50% (from 18/04/24) 24. **$ALPACA** BNB Chain-focused leveraged lending protocol **Market Cap:** $25m **YTD:** -10% 25. **$SCA** Sui-focused money market, offering a suite of DeFi features **Market Cap:** $20m **YTD:** -22% (from 30/04/24) 26. **$NSTR** Focuses on lending and margin trading on Starknet and now Base **Market Cap:** $9m **YTD:** +0% (from 22/06/24) 27. **$ZERO** The leading lending market on L2s, such as Linea, zkSync and others **Market Cap:** $6m **YTD:** -57% Let us also explore what the composition of the sub-sector looks like as of today as we prepare for a longer-form analysis of the 2024 performance for this and the other DeFi sub-sectors in search of fundamental indicators of outperformance and underperformance alike. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/117a5750bd194ea04dd87bb9f4adf0b8.png) 301030 Decentralised Lending as of 27/12/2024 There have been notable changes and movements since the start of this year, particularly for newcomers $MORPHO, $KAMINO and $WELL. $AAVE now comfortably maintains and extends its dominance over the sub-sector to arguably outgrow it all, on the back of the Aave v4 protocol overhaul. Curious drop in value for $SEND and $SLND, coming from the same team, as well as $ZERO, and a surprisingly underwhelming year for most others who have been around and trading since at least early 2023. We will explore various possible reasons for such outcomes in the 2024 DeFi Report. Now, onto the next sub-sector classification – 301040 Stablecoin Issuers, at times closely related to this one, particularly through the example of the Sky Ecosystem and their $SKY governance token (ex-MKR), Spark lending protocol and $USDS stablecoin (ex-DAI). * * * Sources: * [https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/](https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/) * [https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180](https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180) * [https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/](https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/) * [https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/lending-borrowing](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/lending-borrowing) * [https://defillama.com/](https://defillama.com/) * Coin Kotei Analysis --- *Originally published on [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei/redefining-defi-301030)*