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- Ethereum (ETH) dominates in DeFi and DApp as a prominent analyst predicts a significant increase in activities to surpass the previous peak.
- Ethereum’s Open Interest dominance has reached 40% as capital moves from Bitcoin (BTC) to ETH.
The value of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) market is undergoing an upward spiral, reaching a three-year high of $153 billion on Monday, July 28. Fascinatingly, Ethereum (ETH) is still dominating this and the Decentralized Application (DApp) ecosystem despite the presence of faster and cheaper alternatives.
According to reports, Ethereum’s Total Value Locked (TVL) accounts for 60% of the total in the DeFi ecosystem. Our research also shows that this level of growth was significantly influenced by the contribution of the liquid staking protocol, Lido, which has a TVL of between $32 billion and $34 billion. As noted in our earlier post, things could be more explosive as Lido confirms SRv3 Validator Upgrade in 2026.
Ethereum’s DApp Journey So Far
Pointing out some of its historical records as far as Decentralized Application (DApp) is concerned, DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas highlighted that Ethereum’s peak adoption occurred in 2021, when the price reached an all-time high of $4,891. Within the period, Ethereum had the most transactions with the highest number of unique wallets. However, this was short-lived.
2023 and 2024 became another interesting year as renewed interest in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), experimental DeFi protocols, and Layer 2 (L2) ecosystems triggered another level of engagement on the network. According to Gherghelas, the 2024 record could be surpassed in 2025 as long as the ongoing market momentum is sustained.
Interestingly, the Ethereum Foundation has confirmed the same, stating that 2025 and 2026 could be crucial years for both DeFi and ETH, as indicated in our recent blog post. As highlighted in our previous report, ETH’s TVL was around $90 billion in February 2025.
In general terms, Ethereum’s 10-year journey has been an impressive one with 234 million unique active wallets (UAW) tracked by DappRader. Specifically, it has contributed 74% of unique active wallet addresses in the DeFi space, 10% in the NFT space, 3% in gaming, and 13% in other spaces.
In terms of transactions, it has processed 452 million DApp-related transactions. In percentage-wise, Ethereum dominates in DeFi DApps with 71% transactions, 18% in NFT DApps, 6% in gaming DApps, and 5% in others.
Amid this booming activity, the price of ETH appears to be “enjoying some good run” with an attempt to retest the $4000 level. According to CoinMarketCap data, the asset is currently trading at $3,864, rising by 1.3% in the last 24 hours, 7.9% in the last seven days, 56% in the last 30 days, and 112% in the last 90 days.
ETH’s Open Interest and Price Prediction
Apart from its price action, Ethereum’s Open Interest has more than doubled since June 22 to reach an all-time high of $58 billion. According to analysts, this represents an increased demand for leveraged ETH positions. Meanwhile, ETH’s OI dominance has also reached a two-year high of almost 40%, representing a massive rotation of capital from Bitcoin (BTC) to ETH.
Commenting on this, crypto trader Merlijn The Trader disclosed that the ongoing upsurge being witnessed is not a normal one.
Open Interest just hit a new all-time high. The price is climbing. Leverage is stacking. This isn’t a normal breakout, it’s fuel for a vertical move. If you’re waiting for confirmation, this is the confirmation.
Recently, a new Ethereum community foundation was formed with the primary mandate to increase the value of ETH to $10k, as detailed in our recent news brief. Already, an analyst has predicted that the asset could repeat the 25,000% surge recorded in 2017, as also mentioned in our last analysis.
