Weekly DeFi Index

This week, market cap and volume indices decreased by -6.07% and -14.93%, respectively, while the volatility index increased by +27.04%.

• Apollo Global Management, overseeing over $900 billion in assets, agreed to potentially purchase up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over four years to support DeFi lending markets via a partnership with the Morpho Association.

Chart of the Week

An examination of stablecoin ownership concentration, measured by the share held by the top 10 wallets and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), reveals a significant distribution gap. HHI is a common measure of market concentration used in economics to determine the level of competition within an industry, where 0 indicates perfect distribution and 1.0 signifies a single holder.

USDC demonstrates the highest distribution, with the top 10 wallets holding 23% of supply and an HHI of 0.008. USDT shows a similar distribution: the top 10 wallets account for 26%, with an HHI of 0.014. In contrast, other stablecoins exhibit notably higher concentration. USDS, with a $6.9 billion supply, has 90% held by the top 10 wallets (HHI 0.48). USD0 represents the most concentrated stablecoin, with 99% in the top 10 and an HHI of 0.84, suggesting substantial dominance by only one or two wallets even within that top group.

News Highlights

• The Ethereum Foundation officially started staking its ETH holdings, using minority clients to promote network diversity. By becoming an active validator, the Foundation aims to lead by example in securing the network while generating yield to fund future development.
• The Ethereum Foundation outlined its 2026 protocol priorities, focusing on scalability, security, and a transition towards ’The Verge’ to lower node hardware requirements. This roadmap provides developers and investors with a long-term technical vision for Ethereum’s evolution.
• Ether.fi is migrating its liquid restaking protocol to Optimism’s OP Mainnet from Scroll to leverage Superchain's interoperability and liquidity. This move signifies a strategic shift towards the Optimism ecosystem to enhance user experience and capital efficiency.
• Ethereum L2 Base is transitioning to its own unified architecture to reduce dependencies on Optimism’s tech stack and accelerate future upgrades. The move aims to simplify the sequencer and streamline transaction ordering for validators. Rollout will occur in four phases, requiring node runners to adopt the new Base client over several months.
• NEAR unveiled Near.com, a consumer crypto wallet and ‘super app’ designed to simplify blockchain usage while bridging the gap between crypto and artificial intelligence.
• Pump.fun introduced ‘Cashback Coins’, allowing creators to choose whether to redirect all creator fees to traders or keep them traditionally — a decision locked in at launch.
• Société Générale’s digital asset arm, SG-FORGE, deployed its EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, marking its third blockchain expansion. The move is intended to increase institutional access to Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)-compliant euro stablecoins and integrate with Ripple’s cross-border payment infrastructure.
• Dubai launched a secondary market for $5 million in tokenised real estate on the XRP Ledger, allowing fractional ownership and trading of property. This initiative showcases the real-world utility of blockchain in increasing liquidity for traditionally illiquid asset classes.
• Meta is preparing to reintroduce stablecoin payments in the second half of 2026, leveraging a third-party vendor to manage dollar-pegged token transactions and launching a new wallet. The move aims to enable social commerce and cross-border remittances while avoiding the regulatory and reputational challenges faced by its earlier Libra/Diem project.
• Hyperliquid established the Hyperliquid Policy Center, a nonprofit lobbying and research organisation aimed at shaping US DeFi regulation. The group plans to brief lawmakers, publish technical research, and advocate for rules tailored to decentralised systems.
• IoTeX is offering a 10% white-hat bounty ($440,000) and legal immunity to the hackers who stole approximately $4.4 million from its ioTube cross-chain bridge, provided funds are returned within 48 hours. The exploit occurred on 21 February due to a compromised private key on the Ethereum-side validator, not a smart contract flaw. IoTeX claims its Layer-1 blockchain was unaffected; the breach was isolated to the bridge’s Ethereum infrastructure.

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