ARK Invest released its fourth-quarter DeFi report showing stablecoins surpassed $300 billion in total supply by year's end, decentralized exchange volume exceeded $1 trillion for the fifth consecutive quarter, and real-world asset tokenization more than tripled throughout 2025 to reach approximately $19 billion.
What Happened: Q4 DeFi Report Released
The quarterly publication, authored by Lorenzo Valente and Raye Hadi, examines six major sectors across decentralized finance through Dec. 31, 2025.
Stablecoin supply reached historic levels despite a notable contraction in Ethena's USDe, which declined 58% from its October peak following a liquidation event that caused temporary depegging on Binance.
USDS from Sky Protocol and PYUSD from PayPal emerged as the fastest-growing stablecoins, with supplies increasing approximately 140% and 653%, respectively.
Ethereum (ETH) and Tron maintained more than 80% of stablecoin market share, while Solana (SOL) reclaimed 5%.
USDC from Circle dominated transaction activity, accounting for more than 60% of all adjusted stablecoin volume despite constituting only 25% of total supply. The stablecoin's volume-to-supply ratio soared to approximately $88, representing a 39% quarter-over-quarter increase and outpacing PYUSD's $22 ratio by $66.
Base, the Coinbase-backed Layer 2 network, recorded $3 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume during Q4, surpassing both Ethereum and Tron. Real-world assets expanded to $19 billion, driven by tokenized commodities from Tether and Paxos, along with private credit growth from Maple Finance.
Decentralized exchanges processed $1.1 trillion in spot trading volume, with PancakeSwap and Uniswap collectively accounting for roughly 50% of the market.
Lending protocol deposits declined 21% quarter-over-quarter to $92 billion following October's market liquidations. The report also highlights crypto credit card spending, which grew 66% quarter-over-quarter to $262 million, with EtherFi Cash capturing 52% of volume processed primarily through Visa.
Also Read: PUMP Token Soars 60% As Solana Memecoins Heat Up
Why It Matters: Institutional DeFi Adoption Grows
The data signals continued institutional engagement with decentralized finance infrastructure despite quarterly revenue declines across both networks and applications.
Blockchain revenue fell 27% quarter-over-quarter to $473 million, while application revenue dropped 33% following the October liquidation event. The report notes this may indicate a shift from fee-based to monetary-based valuations for blockchain networks. Competition intensified in perpetual futures markets, with Hyperliquid's share of open interest declining from 78% to 52% as Aster and Lighter gained market share.
Read Next: Coinbase And Glassnode Report Shows BTC Dominance At 59% As Options Overtake Futures