Aquarius Drives Nearly All of Stellar's 69% Weekly DEX Volume Increase, DeFiLlama Data Shows

@AquariusDeFi, a decentralized liquidity management protocol on the @StellarOrg blockchain, accounted for nearly all of the recent jump in decentralized exchange (DEX) trading on the network, according to DeFiLlama data. DEX volume on Stellar rose 69% over the past seven days, a gain partly linked to the $AQUA ecosystem.

DeFi Activity on Stellar Is Highly Concentrated

The near-total share attributed to a single protocol points to how concentrated DeFi activity on Stellar has become. A small number of applications handle most of the on-chain trading and lending on the network.

Other data supports that picture. Messari's State of Stellar Q1 2026 report listed Aquarius as the top DEX by total value locked, with $39.9 million at the end of the first quarter. The same report named Soroswap and Aquarius as the top DEXs by volume, and said Aquarius led all protocols by monthly transactions, averaging 271,222.

Analysis from WhaleHub, which draws on DefiLlama figures, showed a similar split in locked value. As of 6 October 2026, the lending protocol Blend held $162.8 million, Aquarius $39.5 million and Stellar's native order book $17.7 million, together making up about four-fifths of the chain total counted by DefiLlama.

What Aquarius Does

Aquarius is described by its developers as a liquidity management layer for Stellar. In its introductory post, the project said it was designed to bring more liquidity to the Stellar DEX and give the community control over how that liquidity is distributed across market pairs. AQUA holders use the token for rewards and on-chain voting, which directs incentives toward the pairs where liquidity is needed most.

DeFiLlama's page for the protocol shows how volume has moved over time. It lists 30-day DEX volume of $95.08 million on Stellar for Aquarius at the time of the snapshot, along with cumulative volume of $803.45 million. DeFiLlama figures update continuously, so readers should check the live dashboard for current numbers.

A short-term volume spike does not by itself show lasting growth. WhaleHub noted that Aquarius ended the first nine months of 2026 with about the same total value locked as at the start of the year, despite record volume months in June and September. Weekly swings in volume can reverse quickly, and volume rising while locked liquidity stays flat suggests more trading through existing pools rather than new capital entering.

For $XLM holders and Stellar builders, the data shows both the traction of the network's largest DEX and the extent to which the ecosystem relies on a few protocols.

Sources

DefiLlama: Aquarius Stellar TVL, Fees, Revenue and Volume
Messari: State of Stellar Q1 2026
WhaleHub: Stellar DeFi TVL in 2026