This is part of the 0xResearch newsletter. To read the full editions, Subscribe.
Happy Monday, I hope you had a Merry Christmas! We’re back with updates on recent cryptocurrency performance as we move into the new year.
Gold led traditional indices higher this week, while Bitcoin fell nearly 1%, steering clear of the broader risk-on mood. Solana ecosystem tokens outperformed, with JTO and DRIFT posting double-digit gains as L2 and Ethereum-related sectors depleted. Aave still dominates DeFi loans with 86% of the protocol’s revenue, but its hold has declined from 91% in January as Fluid and new entrants decline. Meanwhile, Lighter continues to outpace Hyperliquid in weekly volume, although a looming airdrop may inflate those numbers.
Indicators
Indices rose slowly over the past week: gold led the gains (+3.57%) while the S&P 500 (+1.15%) and Nasdaq 100 (+0.84%) also posted modest advances. BTC bucked the trend, falling 0.90% despite the broader environment.
Cryptocurrency sector indicators showed mixed results during the week. On the upside, Solana Ecosystem led the gains (+4.4%), followed by Launchpads (+3.23%), DePIN (+2.23%), Perps (+2.17%), and Modular (+1.7%). DEXs (+1.42%) and AI (+1.07%) also registered modest progress. On the downside, L2 operations (-8.27%) and lending (-6.82%) saw the biggest declines, with the Ethereum ecosystem (-6.57%) and cryptocurrency miners (-5.97%) also under pressure.
JTO led the Solana Eco Index with a +10.30% move, closely followed by DRIFT (+8.10%) as scams and liquid bets found renewed interest. JUP (+4.14%), ORCA (+3.81%), and RAY (+3.40%) also posted strong gains, reflecting strength across the DEX sector. At the late end, MPLX (-2.68%) struggled to find a foothold, and PUMP clearly underperformed at -5.11%, continuing to bleed as fatigue set in at the memecoin launch pad.
Charts for the week
Aave dominated the DeFi lending space in 2025, capturing 86% of the protocol’s revenue and generating $120.9 million since the beginning of the year. However, Aave’s grip has slipped slightly over the year, falling from 91% market share in January to 86% in December. New entrants HyperLend (launched in March) and Jupiter Lend (launched in July) now together represent 3.4% of the market, while Fluid has doubled its share from 2.4% to 4.9%, making it the fastest-growing competitor among established protocols.
Outstanding loans tell a similar story. Aave has $21.3 billion in loans, representing 74.7% of the market, a share that has remained relatively constant since January. The real movement was among competitors: Morpho grew from 10.6% to 12.8% of loans outstanding, while Spark stock collapsed from 11.5% to just 4.7%. Fluid nearly doubled its stake from 3.6% to 5.0%, and new entrants Jupiter Lend (2.1%) and HyperLend (0.7%) also took small but growing positions.
The downward trend in network revenue continued, with total weekly revenue falling 21% to $26.4 million, the lowest level in at least a month. Hyperliquid saw the biggest decline among the major chains, falling 40% from $11.8 million to $7.1 million, while Ethereum fell 38% to $2.2 million. Solana held up better, falling just 2% to $4.7 million. Tron remained the largest revenue generator behind Hyperliquid at $6.1 million despite an 11% decline. The only notable gainers were smaller players: Arbitrum (+37%), Polygon (+50%), and BSC (+2%), although these moves represent relatively small absolute amounts.
In August 2025, Hyperliquid saw $396B in volume and $121M in revenue, with 30-day trading volume reaching $395B and the protocol controlling 80%+ of DeFi perps market share.
Lighter has generated $30.9 billion over the past seven days and $203.7 billion over the past month, with $1.48 billion in open interest. Aster saw $26 billion in seven-day trading volume and $160.6 billion over 30 days, with $7.4 billion in open investment volume. Hyperliquid fell in terms of weekly volume at $21.5 billion, though it still held more than double its overall interest total of $2.4 billion. With the arrival of the Lighter airdrop, we will see how the landscape shapes up if volumes drop significantly once the dot program ends.
Get news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
