Every month, we’re diving into the state of the overall DeFi sector: the biggest developments, changes and updates across the ecosystem. All in one place.
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DeFi Stats We’re Watching
Total value locked in DeFi: $98.55B (+0.14%)
Monthly DEX volume: $161.6B (-34.16%)
Monthly perp volume: $635.3B (-5.34%)
Aave: $26.27B (-4.54%)
Lido: $22.35B (+17.14%)
EigenCloud: $9.84B (+9.45%)
Solana: $71M
Hyperliquid: $56.3M
Ethereum: $49.1M
Chain | Inflow | Outflow | Netflow |
|---|---|---|---|
Hyperliquid | $3B | $2.4B | $614.6M |
Polygon | $849.1M | $522.5M | $326.6M |
Base | $505.8M | $428.5M | $77.3M |
The metrics are accurate at the time of publication. The percentage change is over a 30-day period.
Noteworthy DeFi Developments
S&P Dow Jones Indices has signed a licensing agreement with TradeXYZ to launch a perpetual derivative contract based on S&P 500 on the RWA perpetuals exchange. The deal gives non-U.S. investors the ability to buy perpetual derivatives based on the S&P 500, allowing them to take long and short positions on the benchmark, via Hyperliquid.
Aave launched V4 on Ethereum, introducing a Hub and Spoke architecture that centralizes liquidity across network deployments. In comparison to V3, where capital was siloed by chain, V4 routes all deposits and borrows through a single Hub that lets users from any connected network contribute to the same pool.
Whop has integrated Veda's vault infrastructure, letting creators earn yield on idle stablecoin balances. User funds are automatically converted to USDT and deployed to lending protocols on Aave.
A DeFi App We Tried in April: Decibel
What it does: Decibel is a perpetual derivatives exchange built on Aptos. It lets users trade using a central limit order book (CLOB) and clearinghouse, so every order is placed, matched and settled directly on the blockchain. The platform also has a vault layer from which users can delegate capital to other traders, for a copy-trading-esque feature, and earn points for a potential airdrop later on.
Our thoughts: Decibel offers a trading experience that feels comparable to Hyperliquid, as both offer fast trades, a clean order book interface, and cross-margin accounts that let you flexibly manage positions across multiple assets.
Decibel supports Privy, so users can sign up using third-party accounts like Gmail or Apple, rather than a crypto wallet. This lowers the barrier to entry for traders who are coming from traditional finance or other blockchains.
The app also offers a vault trading feature. Users can delegate capital to vaults managed by other traders to copy their trades and earn incentives. This takes away the need to actively manage positions, and lets you watch other users’ trades — a good feature for new users to quickly learn trading strategies. Vault deposits can also serve as means to keep capital productive.
Compared to Hyperliquid, Decibel's order book liquidity is thin, as its its mainnet launched just two months ago. This may not matter for retail users making smaller trades, but slippage and spread could be a real concern for larger positions until the platform matures.
Overall, Decibel provides a capable and accessible trading environment, and its social login integration makes it one of the more approachable perpetual DEXs for users new to crypto.
Stats on the project:
TVL: $42.2M
Weekly perp volume: $178.1M
Fees (annualized): $3.6M
Disclaimer: This section is not sponsored. The views herein reflect our analysts’ subjective impressions from testing apps, and differs from our otherwise fact-driven content. Opinions are based on our evaluation; readers should conduct their own research.
More DeFi Updates
Samantha Bohbot, partner and chief growth officer at RockawayX, spoke on the Talking Tokens podcast about how DeFi vaults have evolved from simple yield products into the foundation for actively managed, institutional-grade credit strategies.
So far in 2026, 35 DeFi protocols have been hacked, with $456.4M lost.
Drift, a perpetual futures trading protocol on Solana, had an exploit of $285M on April 1, making up 62.5% of the total hacks in 2026
GMX launched gold and silver perpetual futures markets, backed by WETH-USDC liquidity on Arbitrum, and priced via Chainlink Data Streams.
Native Markets released a new onramp and offramp methodology for Hyperliquid that features zero fees and slippage when using a US bank or brokerage account.
Feather and Y10k Capital have launched pyUSD lend and borrow vaults on Sei using Morpho’s infrastructure.
Jupiter’s new Offerbook platform provides permissionless, oracle-free, fixed-term peer-to-peer lending. This lets borrowers and lenders set custom terms with no price-based liquidations.
DeFi word of the month:
Definition: Profit miners of validators can earn by controlling the order of transactions before they are confirmed on a blockchain
Used in a sentence: MEV bots can front-run a trade by buying the asset before the user executes their trade, and selling it back at a higher price due, in order to pocket the difference.
This is the State of DeFi. April Edition.
This product was built by StrataMedia.
This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.
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