dYdX challenges Uniswap’s dominance in January: Binance Research

Decentralized exchange (DEX) dYdX exceeded the daily trading volume of Uniswap two times in January, according to a Binance Research report. The DEX peaked at $493 million on January 28, outdoing Uniswap’s $457 million.

The accumulated trading volume for dYdX surpassed $25 billion, with volumes spiking above $1 billion following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. The market closely watched the transition of dYdX from an Ethereum application to a standalone Cosmos appchain. The platform incentivizes active traders through a Launch Incentives Program, currently in its second phase with two more expected.

In addition to dYdX, Jupiter, a DEX aggregator built on Solana blockchain, also experienced a surge in trading volumes, surpassing Uniswap’s 24-hour volume on several occasions. This increase may be partly attributed to the launch of the JUP token.

Image: Binance Research

DeFi gears up, NFTs slump

The overall decentralized finance (DeFi) total value locked (TVL) rose by 4.1% in January, with Manta, Solana, Ethereum, and Arbitrum making significant contributions. Manta’s TVL soared by almost 68% month-over-month, driven by a successful incentive campaign. On Ethereum, protocols like Renzo Protocol, Ether.fi, and KelpDAO substantially grew, offering enhanced rewards for ETH deposits.

Conversely, the NFT market witnessed a 33% decrease in trading volume month-over-month in January 2024, with a notable drop in Bitcoin NFT sales. However, Polygon’s NFT market bucked the trend, recording a 136% increase, largely due to the popularity of the Gas Hero NFT collection from Find Satoshi Labs, which generated over $90 million in trading volume.

Source