The DeFi ecosystem is reaching a new turning point with two positive factors: resolving regulatory uncertainty and introducing innovative tokenomics.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially announced this week that liquid staking protocols and related tokens do not constitute securities. Consequently, LDO tokens from Lido rose by 4.5%, and RPL tokens from Rocket Pool increased by 10.5%. Currently, the total value locked (TVL) in the liquid staking sector is $67 billion, with Lido holding $31.7 billion, representing a 47% market share.
Lido's Chief Legal Officer Sam Kim explained the significance of this decision, stating that "stakers can now participate in staking while enjoying liquidity benefits and maintaining asset ownership." The industry anticipates that this regulatory clarification will accelerate institutional investors' entry into the DeFi market.
Meanwhile, a new decentralized exchange (DEX) called Etherex, supported by ConsenSys, has launched the REX token with innovative tokenomics. Launched on the Ethereum Layer 2 network Linea, REX recorded a market capitalization of $213 million immediately after its release.
Etherex's notable feature is its 'diminishing fee mechanism'. To prevent bot trading, it introduced a system starting with an initial 50% purchase fee that exponentially decreases to 2% over 30 minutes. Unlike existing DeFi projects, users can immediately buy and sell governance voting rights through the REX33 model without locking tokens for 4 years.
Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO, stated that "Etherex reflects the core Ethereum principles of trustless neutrality and deep composability" and "REX has opened a new liquidity adjustment layer for Linea and the broader ConsenSys ecosystem".
Industry experts analyze these two events as signals of the DeFi ecosystem's maturity. With regulatory risks being mitigated and expected institutional capital inflow, sustainable growth models through innovative tokenomics are also gaining attention.
A domestic digital asset market representative commented, "With improvements in global regulatory environments and technological innovation intersecting, DeFi has entered a full-scale growth trajectory" and "the Korean market needs to develop strategies aligned with these global trends".
