-
The
governance
token
of
Pendle
declined
20%
earlier
this
week
amid
steep
roll-off
in
the
value
of
assets
locked
on
the
platform. -
AAVE,
LDO
also
saw
more
than
10%
price
drops
as
a
large
investor
moved
$10
million
of
tokens
to
Binance.
Cryptocurrencies
in
the
decentralized
finance
(DeFi)
sector
were
hit
harder
than
the
broader
crypto
market
this
week,
with
the
CoinDesk
DeFi
Index
losing
9%
from
its
Monday
high
versus
the
CoinDesk
20
benchmark’s
5%
decline
during
the
same
time.
Leading
the
plunge
was
the
governance
token
of
Pendle
–
a
DeFi
protocol
that
offers
crypto
yields
in
the
form
of
tradable
tokens
–
falling
more
than
20%
during
the
Tuesday
and
Wednesday
trading
sessions,
with
short
positions
piling
up
to
bet
on
further
declines.
The
protocol
saw
a
significant,
$3
billion
drop
in
the
value
of
assets
locked
on
the
protocol
(TVL),
Defillama
data
shows.
Analysts
reasoned
that
many
users
withdrew
funds
from
the
protocol
instead
of
rolling
over
their
positions
at
the
end
of
June
lock-up
expiry.
Pendle
also
benefited
from
the
airdrop
and
points
farming
bonanza
earlier
this
year,
which
ground
to
halt
lately.
“Yields
aren’t
very
good
for
future
pools
at
the
moment
so
people
withdrew
versus
rolling
[over],”
Rob
Hadick,
general
partner
at
venture
capital
firm
Dragonfly
said.
“While
there
will
be
TVL
noise
in
the
short
run
due
to
specific
points
programs
lapsing,
we’re
hearing
excitement
around
upcoming
tie-ups,
including
the
Symbiotic-Ethena-Mellow
partnership,
which
should
attract
fresh
inflows,”
Joshua
Lim,
co-founder
of
principal
trader
Arbelos
Markets,
told
CoinDesk
in
an
interview.
Tokens
of
other
major
DeFi
lending
platforms
Aave
(AAVE)
and
liquid
staking
protocol
Lido
(LDO)
were
also
among
the
biggest
underperformers,
falling
10%-15%
during
the
same
period.
The
declines
happened
as
a
large
crypto
investor,
or
“whale,”
transferred
earlier
Wednesday
$6.2
million
worth
of
LDO
and
$4.5
million
in
AAVE
to
crypto
exchange
Binance,
likely
to
sell
the
tokens,
one
observer
noted
citing
blockchain
data
on
EtherScan.
The
DeFi
sector’s
struggle
coincided
with
a
period
of
lull
in
the
crypto
market,
with
bitcoin
(BTC)
and
DeFi
hotbed
ether
(ETH)
consolidating
range-bound
below
their
March
peaks.
ETH,
the
second
largest
crypto
asset,
is
down
about
6%
from
its
Monday
highs
and
has
erased
most
of
its
gains
since
odds
for
regulatory
approval
for
U.S.
spot
ETFs
jumped
overnight
in
late
May.
