Market Analysis Report (08 Sep 2022)

Some of the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are working on replenishing their treasuries while getting ready for the Ethereum Merge.

Aave Companies, the main developer behind the Aave Protocol, is looking to receive $16.28 million from the project’s decentralized autonomous organization, governed by AAVE token holders. It’s the first time the organization has asked the DAO for funds.

Similarly, Lido DAO, which manages liquid staking protocol Lido Finance, has recently approved a proposal to sell 10 million of Lido’s native tokens to the venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital. The sale followed the rejection of several proposals on how to manage its assets in order to cover two years of expenses.

At its height, the DeFi sector attracted billions of dollars in investment and saw activity surge, which generated millions of dollars in revenue. The value of DeFi protocols’ treasuries quickly surged, but the bear market has been taking its toll.

Aave DAO’s liquid assets now stand at $378 million, compared with $800 million in April. Lido DAO went from a similar figure to around $344 million. Uniswap’s treasury also dropped from $2.5 billion to around $1.7 billion.