Liquid Restaking and RWA Tokens Surge, DeFi and DEXs Falter

According to a new report from Token Unlocks, a platform that provides data on the unlocking events of blockchain projects, RWA and liquid restaking protocols have seen significant gains, outperforming DeFi and DEXs in the current crypto market cycle.

Real-world asset (RWA) tokens have led the crypto sector with a massive 295% increase, while LIQUID restaking, which has unlocked a modest $41 million, has gained a substantial 234%, outperforming other industries, including decentralized finance (DeFi).

Read also : Over $568 Million in Crypto Token Unlocks Set to Impact Market

DeFi protocols and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have unlocked around $1.6 billion in value, causing the sector’s performance to plummet. While DeFi is down -15%, DEXs have dropped -27.5%, suggesting that the market may not be prepared to handle the impact of such a massive unlocking.

Derivatives and Gaming Tokens See Steep Declines

The worst-performing sectors were derivatives and gaming tokens, each unlocking a massive $1 billion. Like DEXs and DeFi industries, derivatives saw a severe -87% price drop, and gaming experienced a -37.75% decline. The decreasing popularity of these sectors could also be contributing to the plummeting prices of these digital assets.

The current market cycle has favored Solana, Tron, and Ethereum meme coins, along with artificial intelligence (AI) and RWA tokens. However, blue chip tokens like XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE) have not shown extraordinary price increases.

RWA Tokens Lead the Market

The top RWA projects, according to CoinGecko, are MANTRA (OM), Ondo (ONDO), and Pendle (PENDLE). The sector has a valuation of $7.5 billion, while its trading volume is $3.962 billion. In the past 24 hours, OM is up 0.8%, trading at $1.28; ONDO is down 2.4% to $0.7095; and PENDLE has fallen 2.5% to $3.80.

OM has risen 6374.07% since October 2023, while PENDLE has climbed 433.73% over the same period. Also, ONDO has surged 338.40% in the past year.