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The Sui Network ecosystem welcomes a new reality asset (RWA) application expansion, as Creek Finance announces the launch of its core protocol on the Sui mainnet and the integration of the gold token XAUm launched by Matrixdock.The protocol allows users to split, collateralize, lend, trade, and generate yields on tokenized physical gold on-chain, enabling DeFi operations around gold assets. XAUm is backed 1:1 by physical gold and is verified through third-party audits and on-chain reserve proof mechanisms.Creek Finance stated that this launch marks the official deployment of its core contract, allowing users to perform leverage and yield strategy operations based on gold assets in a permissionless environment, further expanding the application scenarios of RWA in DeFi.

According to Forbes, Galaxy, under Novogratz, announced a partnership with the Ethereum treasury company Sharplink to launch the "Galaxy Sharplink Onchain Yield Fund," with a total scale of $125 million, expected to officially launch in a few weeks.Of this, $100 million comes from Sharplink's Ethereum treasury, and $25 million is injected from Galaxy's own funds. Galaxy will serve as the exclusive manager of the fund, responsible for protocol selection, position management, and risk control. The fund will focus on active DeFi strategies such as lending and liquidity provision, aiming for an annualized return of over 10%.

The Web3 asset data platform RootData has outlined 40 partners of Aave, covering multiple layers such as TradFi/RWA, stablecoins, infrastructure, wallets, DeFi protocols, exchanges, and custody. From its early focus on the lending efficiency of crypto assets to competing for on-chain dollar liquidity after the launch of GHO, Aave seems to be defining an interest rate system for on-chain dollars. At the TradFi and RWA layer, institutions like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and JPMorgan are prominently featured, along with RWA platforms such as Centrifuge, OpenEden, and Securitize, indicating that Aave is no longer satisfied with lending native crypto assets but is attempting to meet the financing needs of real-world assets on-chain. At the stablecoin layer, partners like Circle, Tether, Ethena, Ripple, and Plasma suggest that Aave is competing for the on-chain "dollar liquidity" entry point. Whoever controls stablecoin deposits is closer to on-chain interest rate pricing power. At the infrastructure layer, partners like Chainlink, ConsenSys, Flashbots, and Mantle provide Aave with price oracles, MEV optimization, and multi-chain expansion capabilities. At the user distribution layer, wallet partners like MetaMask, Ledger, Bitget Wallet, Privy, and Turnkey are lowering the entry barriers for users; meanwhile, institutional channels like Kraken, Bybit, and Fireblocks further amplify the capital entry points. DeFi protocols such as Pendle, Maple Finance, and CoW Swap extend Aave's liquidity into fixed income, institutional lending, and trading scenarios. The recent rsETH/Kelp risk event caused Aave's TVL to drop from a peak of $44 billion to $15 billion, once again testing the risk management capabilities of this established DeFi protocol. Related collection: Aave Web3 Partner Network Collection (continuously updated) Cryptocurrency projects actively showcasing their partner networks have become a key way to enhance transparency and market trust. It is reported that RootData welcomes Web3 projects to claim their information and continues to track and open more project business relationship disclosure channels. The platform has released multiple editions of crypto project ecosystem maps, nominating Web3 ecosystem partners for upstream clients like Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase. If you wish to nominate your project in future ecosystem maps, please fill out the [RootData 2026 Industry Ecosystem Mapping] form to supplement your important clients and partners.

According to DefiLlama data, three relatively active DeFi applications, Hyperliquid, EdgeX, and Pump.fun, have collectively distributed $96.3 million in revenue to token holders over the past 30 days. Among them, Hyperliquid leads with $50.95 million, with all revenue returned directly to holders and zero incentive spending; Pump.fun returned $22.09 million to holders from a total revenue of $38.81 million; EdgeX allocated $23.26 million from $8.26 million in protocol revenue, indicating it may have tapped into reserves or other income sources.In terms of annualized data, Hyperliquid's revenue over the past year reached $946 million, Pump.fun at $481 million, and EdgeX at $236 million. This trend reflects that the crypto community is shifting from focusing on trading volume to actual revenue. Yearn.Finance founder Andre Cronje pointed out that DeFi in 2026 is no longer just a venue for speculation but is becoming the backend infrastructure of the on-chain economy, with the stablecoin market reaching $320 billion, decentralized exchanges having monthly spot trading volumes exceeding $160 billion, and perpetual contract DEX monthly trading volumes reaching $540 billion.

According to CryptoSlate, Ethereum's share of the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has dropped from 63.5% at the beginning of 2025 to about 54% now, marking a new low in nearly a year.According to the latest data from DefiLlama, Ethereum's DeFi TVL is approximately $45.4 billion, still significantly ahead, but public chains such as Solana (6.66%), BNB Chain (6.60%), Bitcoin (6.35%), Tron (6.17%), Base (5.44%), and Hyperliquid (1.81%) are gradually eating into its share.

According to data released by Sentora on platform X, 43.7% of the market value of active real-world assets (RWA) on Solana is deployed in DeFi lending, while this proportion on Ethereum is only 6.1%. Sentora stated that assets on Ethereum are idle, while assets on Solana are operating as collateral in an active credit market.

Paul Atkins, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated that the regulatory agency is considering new rules for on-chain financial markets and related software applications.Atkins pointed out that current software protocols such as DeFi are difficult to classify within the traditional regulatory framework of exchanges, brokers, or clearinghouses, as a single protocol often has multiple functions including trade execution, collateral management, liquidity routing, and settlement. His remarks are seen as the SEC adopting a more open attitude towards the crypto industry, which is friendlier compared to his predecessor Gary Gensler. Meanwhile, the SEC is also exploring innovative exemption mechanisms for tokenized securities and advancing the clarification of the digital asset classification system.

According to Coindesk, Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise, stated at the Miami Consensus 2026 conference regarding the "recent negative sentiment in the DeFi sector," "I believe DeFi is still doing very well." The recent specific event is operational security issues, not smart contracts being hacked. He also believes that the crypto industry is rapidly entering the mainstream, and DeFi and on-chain treasuries need to respond to this moment; treasuries have only been around for two years, "not all treasuries are equally reliable, and early entrants need to do more homework." Yoni Assia, co-founder and CEO of eToro, also stated that DeFi "is the inevitable future."In the roundtable discussion, several guests made predictions about DeFi TVL over the next five years: eToro CEO Yoni Assia gave a figure of $5 trillion; Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley provided $500 billion; a16z Crypto partner Guy Wuollet declined to give a specific number, only stating, "My number is up and to the right."

According to The Cryptonomist, Grayscale rebalanced two of its crypto funds after reviewing the first quarter of 2026. Among them, the DeFi fund added Ethena (ENA), giving it a weight of 13.59%, making it the fourth largest holding in the fund. The previous holding, Aerodrome Finance, has been removed. The current top four holdings in the fund are: Uniswap (35.22%), Aave (21.36%), Ondo (19.83%), Ethena (13.59%).The other Smart Contract fund did not introduce new assets but adjusted the proportions of its internal holdings. Ethereum remains the largest holding (30.14%), followed by Solana (29.69%) and Cardano (17.96%).

According to CoinDesk, Aave Labs will rewrite the asset listing and collateral risk control rules. In addition to the existing price and volatility assessments, new reviews will be added for compatibility, network security, and underlying architecture, and minimum standard guidelines will be published for asset issuers.This move stems from the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge attack in April, where hackers minted approximately $293 million worth of unbacked rsETH and borrowed real wETH on Aave as collateral, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in bad debt for the protocol. Aave will also shift from a single pool perspective to studying systemic connections between different DeFi protocols to reduce cross-protocol risks and is calling on other DeFi projects to follow similar standards.

Grayscale has completed the rebalancing of its cryptocurrency industry fund. The DeFi fund has added the Ethena token ENA, with a weight of 13.59%, making it the fourth largest holding in the fund. At the same time, the fund has completely removed the Aerodrome Finance token AERO.After the adjustment, the main holdings of the fund include: Uniswap (UNI) at 35.22%, Aave (AAVE) at 21.36%, Ondo Finance (ONDO) at 19.83%, Curve DAO (CRV) at 5.27%, and Lido DAO (LDO) at 4.73%. Additionally, the smart contract platform fund did not increase or decrease its assets this quarter. The holding weight of Ethereum (ETH) has risen to 30.14%, surpassing Solana (SOL) at 29.69% to become the largest holding. Cardano (ADA) ranks third with a weight of 17.96%, followed by Avalanche, Hedera, and Sui.This adjustment is primarily based on the methodology of the CoinDesk DeFi Selected Index and the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Selected Cap Index, aiming to ensure that the fund's holdings are consistent with liquidity, custody, and market capitalization requirements.

Web3 asset data platform RootData has outlined 30 Web3 business partners of Bybit, covering multiple key layers such as institutional custody, stablecoins, blockchain infrastructure, DeFi protocols, and real-world payments. From the funding perspective, partners like Circle, Tether, and Ethena indicate that Bybit has begun to deeply engage in liquidity structures related to stablecoins and RWA. In particular, RWA protocols like Ondo and Backed are essentially helping on-chain funds gradually access U.S. Treasuries, real yield assets, and traditional financial markets. In terms of blockchain infrastructure, its layout covers mainstream networks such as Mantle, Solana, Sui, and TON, while also extending to restaking systems like EigenLayer and Solayer. This means Bybit has started to expand towards on-chain yield and asset issuance layers. In the on-chain liquidity layer, Bybit collaborates with protocols like Aave, Kamino, Raydium, Orca, and Sanctum, using bbSOL to further strengthen its DeFi yield and asset circulation capabilities. What is particularly noteworthy is its infrastructure layout on the institutional side. Bybit has integrated with custody systems such as Fireblocks, Anchorage, Copper, Sygnum Bank, and Cactus Custody, and connected with banks and payment networks like QNB Group, Pave Bank, and Thredd. With institutional funds entering, the biggest competitive point for crypto exchanges has shifted from "matching ability" to "asset security and settlement capability." Especially after the North Korean hacker attack incident, the custody system has become the most critical part of exchange infrastructure. At the same time, Bybit's global branding strategy is also changing. In the past few years, it has made high-profile collaborations with top sports IPs like Oracle Red Bull Racing. In recent years, it has gradually shifted towards high-growth regions like the Middle East, establishing connections with institutions like Dubai DMCC. Its branding logic is transitioning from "traffic exposure" to "regional financial resource binding." Related collection: Bybit Web3 Partner Network Collection (continuously updated) Crypto projects actively showcasing their partner networks have become a key way to enhance transparency and market trust. It is reported that RootData welcomes Web3 projects to claim their information and continues to track and open more project business relationship disclosure channels. The platform has continuously released multiple editions of crypto project ecological maps, nominating Web3 ecological partners for upstream clients like Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase. If you wish to nominate your project in future ecological maps, please fill out the [RootData 2026 Industry Ecosystem Mapping] form to supplement your important clients and partners.