Weekly DeFi Index

This week, market cap and volume indices decreased by -5.23% and -7.57%, respectively, while the volatility index surged by +53.28%.

• Restaking protocol Ether.fi (ETHFI) is integrating with Plume Network’s "Nest Vaults" to allow users to access yields derived from RWAs, bridging the gap between liquid restaking and institutional-grade private credit.
• World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi project backed by the Trump family, released a toolkit enabling AI agents to execute micro-transactions using the USD1 stablecoin, fostering the development of autonomous agent-led economies.
• Aave (AAVE) DAO passed the proposal to deploy Aave V4, introducing a new architectural design and a unified liquidity layer for the leading lending protocol.

Chart of the Week

S&P Dow Jones Indices officially licensed the S&P 500 for on-chain perpetual futures trading on Hyperliquid and TradeXYZ, providing a regulated framework for DeFi users to gain exposure to the most widely followed equity benchmark.

S&P's decision to offer its flagship product in a 24/7 trading environment transcends the limitations of traditional exchange hours and infrastructure. This development is particularly significant for Hyperliquid following the implementation of HIP-3, as the platform now features a greater number of real-world assets, such as indices and commodities, compared to crypto-native assets.

At the time of writing, contracts based on HIP-3 saw a significant 77% overall growth in trading volume between January to March 2026. Commodities experienced the highest surge at 103% with volume exceeding US$28 billion, followed by foreign exchange (FX) with an 83% spike. Indices and ETFs recorded the second-highest trading volume, surpassing $9 billion, alongside a 38% increase.

News Highlights

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a proposal by Nasdaq to allow the trading of tokenized securities on its platform, signaling a major regulatory milestone in the convergence of TradFi and blockchain technology.
• The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is collaborating with Securitize to build a dedicated platform for tokenized stocks, further validating the shift of major global exchanges toward blockchain-based settlement.
• Stripe launched its own blockchain, Tempo, designed to facilitate autonomous financial transactions and payment protocols for AI agents.
• OP_NET, a smart contract protocol that embeds execution directly into standard Bitcoin transactions, went live on Bitcoin’s mainnet. The protocol enables native DeFi applications like DEXs, token issuance, and yield farming without bridges or wrapped assets, using BTC as the sole gas token.
• Cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero partnered with Centrifuge to implement cross-chain interoperability for tokenized RWAs, allowing institutional credit products to move seamlessly across multiple blockchain ecosystems.
• Ondo Finance and Glider launched a platform for customized, tokenized stock portfolios, allowing investors to trade tailored equity baskets directly on-chain.
• DEX Balancer proposed a significant governance shift, including the shutdown of Balancer Labs and a complete overhaul of its BAL tokenomics to transition toward a fully decentralized, community-managed model.
• Resolv Labs suffered a security exploit on its USR stablecoin when an attacker exploited a critical flaw in Resolv's USR stablecoin minting contract to create approximately 80 million unbacked tokens, extracting around $25 million. This caused USR — a dollar-pegged, delta-neutral stablecoin backed by ETH and BTC — to depeg by over 70%, currently trading at around $0.27.

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