dex

The October 10th crash continues to reverberate in the crypto market with broader softness across sectors. It’s especially notable in #defi , the lifeblood of on-chain activity today, and the one sector that generates the majority of crypto token revenue.

Let’s take a quick glimpse of where we are. Of a subsect of 23 leading DeFi names across the decentralized exchange #DEX , lending and yield verticals, only 2 are positive YTD as of November 20, 2025. QTD, the group is -37% on average, highlighting the damage this extended selloff has done. But the mixed price action reveals some nuances.

1) Investors seem to be opting for safer (‘buyback’) names or allocating to names with fundamental catalysts. On the buyback side, names like HYPE (-16% QTD) and CAKE (-12%) posted some of the best returns for larger market cap names in the cohort, indicating investors may be allocating to them or that their price has been supported by their substantial buybacks. Meanwhile, MORPHO (-1%) and SYRUP (-13%) both outperformed their lending peers on idiosyncratic catalysts, such as minimal impact from the Stream finance collapse or seeing growth elsewhere.

2) Certain DeFi subsectors have become more expensive, while some have cheapened relative to Sept 30, underscoring the changing landscape post the October 10 crash. Spot and Perp DEXes have seen declining P/S multiples as their price has declined faster than protocol activity. In fact, some DEXes such as CRV, RUNE and CAKE have posted greater 30D fees as of Nov 20 compared to Sep 30. We’re seeing similar trends across perp DEXes with HYPE and DYDX multiples compressing faster than declines in their fee generation.

3) #lending and #yield names have broadly steepened on a multiples basis, as price has declined considerably less than fees. For example, KMNO’s market cap fell 13% over this period, while fees declined 34%, according to data from Artemis. Another factor may be that investors are crowding lending names in the selloff, considering lending and yield-related activity is often seen as stickier than trading activity in a downturn. Lending activity may even pick up as investors exit to stablecoins and seek yield opportunities.

This positioning may reflect where investors think the DeFi sector will see growth in 2026. On the DEX front, QTD performance suggests investors expect perps to continue to lead, and HYPE’s relative outperformance may point to investor optimism around its ‘perps on anything’ HIP-3 markets, which are seeing their highest volumes as of Nov 20. On the other hand, the only crypto trading category seeing record volumes lately are prediction markets. Therefore, the cheapening in the DEX sector may be warranted on lower growth expectations. On the lending side, investors may be looking to more fintech integrations to drive growth. AAVE’s upcoming high-yield savings account and MORPHO’s expansion of its Coinbase integration are recent examples of this trend.

Overall, these trends reveal potential opportunities from dislocations in the wake of 10/10. It will be interesting to see if the changes mark the beginning of a broader shift in DeFi valuations or if these will revert over time.

Source: Binance News / Bitdegree / #CoinDesk / Coinmarketcap / Cointelegraph / Decrypt

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