The financial world has witnessed several advancements since the introduction of blockchain, and one major reason for this is the DeFi (decentralized finance) applications. Such apps aim to recreate traditional financial systems with blockchain technology at the center. More simply, we could say that DeFi applications incorporate the use of smart contracts to make conventional financial applications even more useful. Let’s take a look at the top ten DeFi cryptocurrencies.
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Top Ten DeFi Cryptocurrencies
We have used the market cap (as of August 19, 2021) from coinmarketcap.com to rank the top ten DeFi cryptocurrencies. Following are the top ten DeFi cryptocurrencies:
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Maker (MKR, $3,689 million)
Launched in December 2017, it is a governance token of Maker Protocol and MakerDAO. MKR primarily allows users to issue and manage the DAI stablecoin. It has given a return of over 3% in the last seven days, and is currently trading at over $3,700. MKR has an all-time high of $6,339.02 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $21.06 (Jan 2017).
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PancakeSwap (CAKE, $4,697 million)
Launched in September 2020, it is an AMM (automated market maker) that enables people to exchange tokens, as well as ensure liquidity through farming. PancakeSwap is a Binance Smart Chain-based DEX (decentralized exchange). It has given a return of over 8% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $22. CAKE has an all-time high of $44.18 (April 2021) and an all-time low of $0.198 (November 2020).
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The Graph (GRT, $5,003 million)
Launched in December 2020, it is an indexing protocol that helps to query data for networks such as IPFS and Ethereum. It also powers many apps in DeFi, as well as the Web3 ecosystem. It has given a return of over 14% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $1. GRT has an all-time high of $2.88 (Feb. 2020).
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Aave (AAVE, $5,334 million)
Launched in November 2017, it is a decentralized finance protocol that enables users to lend and borrow crypto. It was initially known as ETHLend, but was rebranded to Aave in September 2018. It has given a return of over -1% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $410. AAVE has an all-time high of $666.86 (May 2020) and an all-time low of $25.97 (November 2020).
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Dai (DAI, $6,032 million)
Launched in November 2019, it is an Ethereum-based stablecoin, whose price is soft pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar. It has given a return of almost -1% in the last seven days, and is currently trading at $1. DAI has an all-time high of $1.14 (September 2020) and an all-time low of $0.8935 (June 2020).
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Avalanche (AVAX, $6,302 million)
Launched in September 2020, it is a platform that assists in the launch of DeFi applications, financial assets, trading and other services. Avalanche aims to become a global assets exchange, helping anyone to launch any asset or trade and control it in a decentralized way. It has given a return of over 100% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $36. AVAX has an all-time high of $59.94 (Feb. 2021) and an all-time low of $2.79 (December 2020).
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Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC, $9,168 million)
Launched in January 2019, it is a tokenized version of Bitcoin and runs on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. It has given a return of over 1% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $47,000. WBTC has an all-time high of $64,796.44 (April 2021) and an all-time low of $3,330.12 (Feb. 2017).
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Chainlink (LINK, $12,102 million)
Founded in 2017, it is a blockchain abstraction layer that facilitates universally connected smart contracts. Chainlink basically allows blockchains to securely connect with external data feeds, events and payment methods. It has given a return of over 3% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $27. LINK has an all-time high of $52.88 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $0.1263 (September 2017).
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Terra (LUNA, $12,252 million)
Launched in April 2019, it is a blockchain protocol that utilizes fiat-pegged stablecoins to operate price-stable global payments systems. LUNA, which is Terra’s native token, helps to stabilize the price of the protocol's stablecoins. It has given a return of over 70% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $29. LUNA has an all-time high of $33.29 (August 2021) and an all-time low of $ 0.1199 (May 2020).
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Uniswap (UNI, $16,478 million)
Launched in November 2018, it is a popular decentralized trading protocol that enables the automated trading of DeFi tokens. The objective of this crypto is to make token trading automated, as well as improve the efficiency of trading. It has given a return of over -5% in the last seven days, and is currently trading over $28. Uniswap has an all-time high of $44.97 (May 2021) and an all-time low of $0.419 (September 2020).
