Bitcoin and ether are tanking, but DeFi investors are refusing to cave to the panic

Core Insights - Despite a broad market downturn in crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) has shown resilience with total value locked (TVL) remaining relatively stable, indicating ongoing interest in passive income opportunities [1][2] Group 1: Market Performance - Major cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL have reached multi-year lows, with ETH experiencing a 21% decline over the past week [1] - Total value locked in DeFi decreased from $120 billion to $105 billion, marking a 12% decline, yet this performance outpaced the overall market [2] Group 2: Investor Behavior - Traders are seeking safe returns in a down market, preferring to hold assets and earn between 3% and 5% in passive income rather than actively trading [3] - Some traders are employing a delta-neutral strategy by staking ETH for yield while shorting the derivatives market to mitigate exposure [4] Group 3: DeFi Market Dynamics - The 12% drop in TVL is attributed to falling asset prices rather than a mass exit by yield farmers, with the amount of ether in DeFi increasing from 22.6 million ETH to 25.3 million since the start of the year [5] - Current on-chain liquidations are significantly lower, with only $53 million in liquidatable positions, compared to previous market downturns [6][7] Group 4: Sector Maturity - The DeFi market has matured compared to previous cycles, where it was the first to collapse during downturns, as seen in the 2022 Terra blockchain incident [8]