DeFi Tokens Defy the Dip as Ethereum Slips Below $1,300

Defying a broader market downturn sparked by the Fed’s interest rate hike, leading decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens have posted gains over the past 24 hours.

UNI, the token behind decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, is up over 8% in the past 24 hours, leading the gains among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

At time of publication, UNI is changing hands at around $5.80, with a whopping 55% increase in trading volume to $130 million.

With a market capitalization of slightly above $4.4 billion, UNI is the 19th-largest cryptocurrency, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Despite today’s price action, UNI is down 87% from its all-time high of $44.97 recorded in May 2021.

LDO, the token powering popular Ethereum staking platform Lido, has also gained over 6.7% in the last 24 hours and currently trades at around $1.89, per data from CoinMarketCap.

The 67th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, LDO, is down over 80% from its historical all-time high of $11 in November 2021.

COMP, the governance token powering decentralized lending protocol Compound, posted gains of 4.5% over the day and currently trades at around $55.60, according to CoinMarketCap.

DeFi, crypto, and the Fed

The primary driver behind the crypto market’s bearish price action is the U.S Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates by 0.75% (or 75 basis points) announced yesterday.

The overall market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has dropped by 0.04% to $919.45 billion over the past 24 hours, per data from CoinMarketCap.

Leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum have posted significant weekly losses, with Bitcoin dropping by over 5%. Ethereum, meanwhile, dropped more than 20% over the past seven days, and is now trading at under $1,300.

Ethereum (ETH) is on a continuous downtrend following its much-anticipated merge last week. ETH’s investors saw their wealth drop by nearly 21% since the merge, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Of the $332 million liquidated in the crypto market over the past 24 hours, Ethereum, the largest liquidated asset, accounts for over $148 million, per data from Coinglass.

Despite the broader crypto market slipping in the wake of the Fed’s rate hike, DeFi tokens are on a tear, with their total market cap up over 30% to $45.89 billion over the past day, per CoinMarketCap.

Over the past day, trading volume for DeFi tokens has also jumped over 30% to $5.4 billion.