Overview: Performance of Top DeFi Protocols in July

Check out how top DeFi did in the past 30 days

Now that July is over and August has started, it’s time to reflect on how the top DeFi protocols in the past month. We’ve selected them based on DappRadar charts and analyzed their monthly trading volume, daily trading volume, number of unique active users, and token prices. 

In this first monthly overview, we look at some of the most recognizable protocols in the DeFi sector. Think about Uniswap, SushiSwap and PancakeSwap. However, future updates might also include new and upcoming protocols, or dark horses that perform surprisingly well. Now let’s start with the unicorn platform, Uniswap. 

Top DeFi Protocols in July

Uniswap

A convincing leader in DappRadar monthly DeFi rankings, Uniswap V3 retained its leadership position thanks to overall impressive results. 

The trading volume of the Ethereum-based exchange protocol in the past 30 days was $50.65 billion (down by 0.16% compared to the month before), realized by 214.15k users (a drop of 3.05%). Uniswap V3 smart contracts processed 699.1k transactions (up by 8.68%). In July, the daily trading volume on the exchange increased dramatically, from $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion.

The UNI token, introduced with Uniswap’s original version, is currently priced at $23.02 (up from $22.41 the month before).

PancakeSwap

With slightly less impressive results, PancakeSwap recorded a monthly trading volume of $15.37 billion. Its daily trading volume decreased slightly in July from $485.91 million to $446.91 million.

The number of unique active users for the period was 2.02 million, which is 1.35% less than the month before (yet significantly more than Uniswap). The yield farming platform that facilitates token exchanges on Binance Smart Chain recorded an increase in the price of its native CAKE token that currently costs $16.88, compared to $15.27 the month before.

QuickSwap

An Ethereum-based permissionless DEX powered by Polygon’s infrastructure, QuickSwap experienced an increase in the number of unique users by 29.45% – it attracted 191.34k unique active wallets in the past month. Its 30-day trading volume rose to $4.25 billion. 

The daily volume marked a drop in this time – from $12.25 million to $7.06 million. The native QUICK token currently costs $319.53. This is a significant decrease from the month before, when its price was $491.28.

SushiSwap

SushiSwap saw a 3.91% growth in the volume of unique active wallets in the past month, reaching 51.12k individual wallet addresses. Uniswap’s fork recorded $7.81 billion in trading volume during the 30-day period.. 

However, its daily trading volume decreased from $564.16 million a month before to the current $208.25 million. The SUSHI token currently costs $8.37, which is a drop from $9.18 a month before.

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Compound

Despite a nearly 40% drop in the number of active users, Compound had excellent results in terms of its trading volume over the past month, which amounted to $14.13 billion. At the time of writing, however, its 24-hour trading volume was $489.56 million. This is a serious decrease from the month before when it was almost double – $906.38 million. 

The Ethereum-based autonomous interest-rate protocol for developers had 5.65k active users at the time of writing. Its COMP token currently costs $444.57, which is a decrease compared to the month before, when its price peaked at $518.57 before dropping down to current levels. 

Fei Protocol

Despite having only 1.14k active users over the course of July, which is a 23.66% decrease, Fei Protocol recorded monthly trading volumes in billions – $13.74 billion, to be more precise. Its daily trading volume also increased significantly in the past month – from $33.84 million to the current $2.05 billion.

The autonomous system of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain didn’t see any dramatic price changes for its native FEI token. Currently it sits at $1.01 – roughly the same price as the month before. This would underline that the protocol’s mechanisms work well to stabilize the price of the FEI stablecoin token.  

Curve

Decentralized autonomous organization Curve marked a monthly trading volume of $8.72 billion which was realized by 7.81k active users (down by 30.70%). 

Its daily trading volume increased significantly within the past 30 days, reaching $642.41 million (up from $172.43 million) at the time of writing. 

The exchange-savings tool hybrid, optimized for stablecoins, saw a decrease in the price of its native CRV token. Currently it trades at $1.67, down from $2 just 30 days before.

Final words

And there you have it. These were the performance metrics of some of the top players in the DeFi space during the past month. As we can see, many of them saw a significant drop in the number of users interacting with their smart contracts. Yet a high trading volume was also present. 

This might be interpreted as bad news by some – possibly showing a drop in interest in DeFi protocols. To others, these results only mean that fewer users are trading but at a higher level and with larger amounts. 

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