Gate Research: Aave TVL Hits All-Time High Surpassing $30B | Pump.Fun Regains Top Market Share

Summary

1. ETH surged past $3,400, outperforming BTC, which lagged behind altcoins this week.
2. The USDT market cap exceeded $160 billion, setting a new all-time high.
3. Orca is planning to launch its Launchpad by late July or early August.
4. Aave’s TVL surpassed $30 billion, reaching a new record high.
5. Pump.Fun reclaimed the top spot among Solana token launch platforms with a 46.9% market share in the past 24 hours.
6. Sui’s Q2 ecosystem performance was strong: TVL broke $2.5 billion, and trading volume grew 30.54% YoY.

Market Overview

Market Commentary

• BTC — Bitcoin rose 6.33% this week but underperformed compared to altcoins. After multiple breakouts past the $120,000 level, its 7-day candlestick pattern resembles a “cup-and-handle.” Currently hovering around $118,000, BTC still has room for another potential breakout.
• ETH — Ether surged 20.77% this week, outperforming BTC and other majors. On the hourly chart, ETH printed several consecutive bullish candles. However, a doji near the $3,400 level indicates short-term indecision. ETH is currently consolidating at high levels and may challenge the $3,500 resistance.
• Altcoins — Altcoins had a strong week, with the median 7-day gain among the top 100 tokens reaching 12.31%. PENGU led the rally with a 99.40% gain, while Pi was the biggest loser, dropping over 5%.
• ETF & Derivatives — Spot BTC and ETH ETFs both recorded over 7 consecutive days of net inflows, signaling institutional confidence. In derivatives, BTC and ETH saw $73.79 million and $190 million in liquidations, respectively, in the past 24 hours.
• Macro Data — On July 16, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the June PPI at 2.3% YoY, below expectations of 2.5% and the lowest since September 2024—indicating easing producer-side inflation.
• Stablecoins — Total stablecoin market cap rose to $261.5 billion, reflecting a significant influx of off-market capital.
• Gas Fees — With ETH breaking above $3,300, Ethereum gas fees have spiked. As of July 17, the average gas fee was 1.98 Gwei.

Trending Sectors

The crypto market saw broad gains this week, fueled by rising investor optimism. The altcoin sector led the rally. According to Coingecko, three standout sectors—Solana Meme, Stablecoin Protocols, and DEX Aggregators—each posted strong weekly gains of 29.4%, 29.2%, and 21.9%, respectively.

Solana Meme

Solana Meme tokens are community-driven projects built on the Solana blockchain, known for their low fees and fast transactions. These tokens often leverage humor, satire, and pop culture to gain traction, rapidly spreading via social media. Solana’s high-performance infrastructure supports this trend, making it a key incubator for meme-based assets. — Over the past 7 days, this sector rose 29.4%, with BONK and PENGU up 82.8% and 99.4%, respectively.

Stablecoin Protocols

These frameworks aim to stabilize token value by pegging to fiat or other assets. They mitigate volatility and serve critical functions in payments, trading, and financial inclusion. The stablecoin market now exceeds $250 billion and is growing rapidly, especially in DeFi and emerging markets. — This sector rose 29.2% over the week, with ENA and CRV gaining 27.3% and 67.3%, respectively.

DEX Aggregators

These platforms allow users to access multiple decentralized exchanges through a single interface, optimizing for the best prices and liquidity. They help traders avoid slippage by aggregating liquidity across protocols, offering efficient and seamless token swaps. — This sector gained 21.9% in the last 7 days, with 1INCH and CETUS climbing 51.3% and 23.0%, respectively.

Focus of the Week

USDT Market Cap Surpasses $160 Billion, Hits New All-Time High

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced on X (formerly Twitter) that USDT’s market capitalization has surpassed $160 billion, setting a new record. He emphasized USDT’s practical role as a “digital dollar” for billions of people in emerging and developing markets.

Since 2020, USDT’s market cap has grown 34-fold (from $4.7 billion to $160 billion), on-chain transaction volume has increased 74-fold (from $14.8 billion/month to $1.1 trillion/month), and user count has surged 160-fold (from 2.8 million to 450 million).

This milestone highlights the growing significance of stablecoins in global finance. As a stable and accessible digital dollar, USDT has powered cross-border payments and financial inclusion. Its explosive growth over the past five years reflects increasing adoption. Looking ahead, with continued blockchain innovation and regulatory improvements, USDT could further expand into areas such as cross-border e-commerce and international remittances.

Orca to Launch Its New Launchpad by Late July or Early August

According to Blockworks journalist Jack Kubinec, Solana-based liquidity protocol Orca plans to launch a new Launchpad by late July or early August. The main innovation is a new mechanism designed to give real users an advantage over bots during token sales, improving fairness and user experience.

Orca’s upcoming Launchpad represents a major step forward for fair token launches within the Solana ecosystem. By prioritizing real users and increasing transparency, Orca strengthens its role as a core Solana protocol. The Launchpad is expected to attract more projects and investors, and its innovative mechanism could inspire similar efforts on other blockchains—though long-term success will require addressing technical and regulatory challenges.

Aethir and Credible Launch First DePIN Credit Card

Decentralized GPU cloud network Aethir has partnered with lending protocol Credible Finance to launch the first DePIN credit card and loan product. This product allows ATH token holders to stake tokens in exchange for stablecoin credit lines without liquidating their assets. Solana users can spend ATH or stablecoins via a prepaid card.

This launch marks a deep integration of decentralized finance with real-world consumption, offering ATH holders a novel way to access credit without asset liquidation. It enhances token utility and liquidity while improving consumer convenience on Solana. The credit card could attract more users and capital to the Aethir ecosystem and set a precedent for blending DeFi with traditional spending—though credit risks and compliance remain key concerns.

Key Market Data Highlights

Aave TVL Surpasses $30 Billion, Sets New Record

According to DefiLlama, Aave’s total value locked (TVL) recently broke $30.28 billion, reaching an all-time high. Just two days prior, net deposits exceeded $50 billion for the first time—making Aave the first DeFi lending protocol to hit this milestone.

Aave’s growth is fueled by institutional inflows, product innovation (e.g., Aave V4), and the multichain expansion of its stablecoin GHO. These developments have boosted user confidence and capital retention, helping Aave evolve from a single lending protocol into a multi-chain DeFi infrastructure.

Founder Stani Kulechov cited the growing on-chain ecosystem and integration of fintech and TradFi players as key growth drivers. The Aave community is actively working on several proposals, including account abstraction, native RWA vaults, BTC Layer-2 support, and expanding GHO to more blockchains.

Pump.Fun Reclaims Top Spot Among Solana Token Launch Platforms with 46.9% Market Share

According to Jupiter market share data, Pump.fun leads Solana token launch platforms with a 46.9% share, followed by Letsbonk at 44.1%, with the rest of the market far behind (e.g., Believe at 3.74%). Dune data shows that in the past 24 hours, Letsbonk.Fun launched 19,060 meme tokens, slightly more than Pump.fun’s 16,155—highlighting intense competition.

Solana’s token launch space is rapidly becoming a duopoly between Pump.fun and Letsbonk. These platforms are driving the meme coin wave and outpacing legacy DeFi protocols in fees and user activity. According to DefiLlama, in the past 24 hours, Pump.fun generated $1.61 million in fees (15th highest across all protocols), with Letsbonk close behind at $1.24 million (17th overall)—surpassing platforms like EigenLayer, Sky, and Orca.

Sui Q2 Ecosystem Report: TVL Hits $2.5B, Volume Up 30.54% YoY

According to the Sui Foundation’s Q2 2025 DeFi report, the Sui ecosystem showed robust growth:

• TVL peaked at $2.555 billion on May 21, and has remained above $2 billion since.
• On-chain transaction volume grew 30.54% year-over-year.

In the BTCfi space, assets like sBTC and xBTC extended Bitcoin’s native use on Sui. Institutional interest is also rising, with 21Shares’ SUI ETF nearing its Nasdaq listing.

Key protocols like Suilend (lending) and Momentum (yield) saw substantial user and capital growth. Meanwhile, top DEX Turbos Finance set a new daily volume record of $47.8 million, including $40M+ from the SUI/USDC pair, marking all-time highs in both liquidity and activity.

Gate Launchpool

This Week’s Notable Project: Vision
Vision (VSN) is a Web3 ecosystem token designed to serve both retail and institutional users. It offers wallet rewards, fee discounts, and cross-chain functionality for individuals, while providing MiCAR-compliant security token solutions for institutions. Its core mechanism features on-chain governance, dynamic token issuance, and revenue-driven token burns—combining usability with long-term sustainability.

How to Participate:
Preparation:

• Gate Account: Register and complete identity verification.
• Deposit Funds: Ensure sufficient VSN and USDT balances in your account. This Launchpool supports staking with both tokens.

Staking Participation:

• Deadline: Until 12:00 (UTC), July 23, 2025
• Steps:
  • Log into Gate and go to the [Launchpool] page.
  • Select the Vision (VSN) project and click [Participate Now].
  • Enter your staking amount and confirm.
• Total Mining Rewards: 409,091 VSN
• Annualized Yield: Up to 2347.49%

Funding Weekly Recap

According to data from RootData, between July 11 and July 17, 2025, a total of 10 crypto projects announced funding rounds or acquisitions. These projects span infrastructure, token issuance platforms, CeFi, tools, and more—reflecting ongoing investor interest in foundational capabilities and user-facing applications. Below are brief summaries of the top 3 fundraising events this week:

Pump.Fun

Raised $500 million via public token sale on July 12, completed in just 12 minutes.

Pump.fun is a memecoin launchpad that enables users to issue instantly tradable tokens without seeding liquidity.

Upexi

Announced $200 million in private funding on July 11, comprising $50 million in common stock and $150 million in convertible debt.

Upexi Inc. is a consumer data platform listed on Nasdaq since 2021. The company accelerates Amazon and e-commerce growth by integrating consumer data and vertical supply chains. Recently, Upexi announced plans for a Solana-based financial strategy, including increasing its SOL holdings and staking, as part of its on-chain finance expansion.

Hilbert Group

Secured a 300 million SEK Bitcoin loan on July 15, to support its enterprise crypto treasury strategy.

Hilbert Group is an investment firm focused on algorithmic trading in digital asset markets, primarily managing quantitative trading funds.

Next Week to Watch

Token Unlocks

According to Tokenomist, several major token unlocks are expected in the coming week (July 18–24, 2025). The top 3 are:

• TRUMP: $890 million worth of tokens to be unlocked, 45.3% of total locked supply.
• FTN: $90.2 million worth, 4.6% of total locked supply.
• ZRO: $56.3 million worth, 23.2% of circulating supply.
  
  
  References:

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Coinglass, https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData
• CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/adp-jobs-report-june-2025.html
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/
• etherscan, https://etherscan.io/gastracker
• Coingecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
• X, https://x.com/paoloardoino/status/1945454937145495862
• X, https://x.com/whosknave/status/1945463174943138117
• Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/07/16/aethir-and-credible-introduce-depin-powered-credit-card
• DefiLlama, https://defillama.com/protocol/aave
• Jupiter, https://jup.ag/pro?tab=launchpads
• Sui Foundation, https://blog.sui.io/q2-2025-defi-roundup/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/launchpool/VSN?pid=339
• Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
• Tokenomist, https://tokenomist.ai/

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