Multi-chain, stocks and stablecoin-focused DeFi protocols are showing signs of strength

The cryptocurrency market has far faced an uphill battle for the larger part of 2022 due to global economic headwinds on multiple fronts, along with supply chain constraints, blistering inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Despite the weakness seen in a majority of crypto assets, several decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have managed to strengthen their fundamentals and entice new users to enter their ecosystems.

Here’s a look at four protocols that are showing strength even as the wider crypto market struggles to gain footing.

Balancer

Balancer (BAL) is an automated market maker (AMM) on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain that offers users a range of DeFi capabilities including the ability to stake tokens, provide liquidity, participate in governance voting and perform token swaps.

According to data from Token Terminal, the total value locked (TVL) on Balancer is currently $3.54 billion, the third-highest TVL in the history of the protocol despite falling prices across the cryptocurrency market.

The staying power of the Balancer TVL is due, in large part, to an increase in funds staked in stablecoin pools on the platform and a more involved governance mechanism that lets veBAL hodlers vote on which pools receive a majority of the BAL reward emissions.

DeFiChain

DeFiChain (DFI) is a DeFi protocol that was created through a fork of the Bitcoin code and operates in conjunction with the Bitcoin network to offer users access to crypto assets as well as tokenized stocks.

Data from Defi Llama shows that the TVL of DeFiChain hit a new all-time high of $901.16 million on April 5 and currently sits at $831 million following the recent pullback in prices.

The price of DFI has also remained relatively resilient compared to the wider crypto market and currently trades at $4.12 after hitting a high of $4.63 on April 3.

The resiliency of DeFiChain is due, in part, to the continued development and expansion of the protocol, which recently added support for tokenized stocks for Walt Disney Co, iShares MSCI China ETF, MicroStrategy Incorporated and Intel Corporation.

NEAR Protocol

NEAR protocol (NEAR) is a layer-one blockchain network designed as a community-run cloud computing platform capable of offering high transaction speeds at a low cost.

2022 has been a good year in general for the project and the price of NEAR hit an all-time high of $20.42 on Jan. 16 and the most recent rally saw the price rebound to $19.81 on April 7.

On the DeFi front, things have never been this good for the NEAR protocol as the total value locked on the network is now at a record-high of $363.72 million, according to data from Defi Llama.

The improving fundamentals for NEAR follow the successful completion of a $350 million funding round led by the New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global and speculation that the NEAR token could soon be listed on Coinbase.

Related: Report: DApp daily users surge to 2.4M in Q1 2022 despite headwinds

cBridge

Celer’s cBrige, a multi-chain network that enables the transfer of assets across 26 different blockchain networks and layer-2 protocols, is also performing well.

According to data from Defi llama, the cBridge hit a new all-time high TVL of $765.25 million on April 11 as the wider crypto market sold off and Bitcoin fell back below $40,000.

The steadily climbing TVL for cBridge comes as the protocol continues to expand its list of supported networks, with some of the most recent additions including Astar, Crab Smart Chain, Milkomeda Cardano and Shiden.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.846 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 40.9%.

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