Plasma Goes Live with $3B+ and 100+ DeFi Integrations

Plasma, a Tether-backed, stablecoin-optimized L1, launched mainnet on Sept 25 with LayerZero’s OFT + Stargate as its bridge stack. That day, LayerZero hit an ATH of $4.6B in volume, while Plasma drew ~$3.5B of inflows, including ~$2.28B in USDT0 and ~$844M in USDe. Since Sept 23, Plasma has accumulated ~$6.03B inflow vs ~$0.62B outflow (~$5.41B net), already ~8.6% of all LayerZero USD inflows, driven by ~9K+ unique wallets, ~25K inbound messages, and 17 active OFTs. On the integrations front, Plasma launched with 100+ DeFi partners: Aave, where Plasma is already the largest market after Ethereum core; Ethena (USDe/sUSDe) as core synthetic-dollar collateral; Fluid and Euler add depth on the liquidity side; Binance Earn brings distribution (with XPL incentives); Maple’s syrupUSDT, the first yield-bearing asset on Plasma anchoring its institutional credit layer, hit its $200M pre-deposit cap almost instantly; and Plume × Nest (nBASIS), with its first multichain rollout, brings productive USDT staking to Plasma. Collectively, these and more deployments make Plasma one of the most active L1 launches to date and a vibrant hub for stablecoin flows.

BNB’s Perps Boom

Aster, a perps DEX on BNB Chain, has posted explosive growth this week: $1.44B TVL (+$715M 7d), anchored by USDF ~$341M and asBNB ~$319M; cumulative trading volume $650B+, with $48.18B in the last 24h and $113.48B over 7d; ~$255.6M in open interest; and surging user metrics (2.71M total users, 590,680 new in 24h, 70,600 24h traders, 107,372 7d traders). Fee/income lines are rising too ($16.6M 24h, $39.5M 7d, $72.9M lifetime), supported by an ALP APY ~25.7% on BSC. On market share, Aster has apparently overtaken Hyperliquid on 7-day averages, with $20.93B vs $10.41B (market share 37.2% vs 18.5%), helping make BSC the top perps chain in 24h volume (~$36.6B). That said, several analysts have flagged potential wash-trading/manipulation risks amid the breakneck growth. Aster's explosive burst in BNB Chain perpetuals underscores the potential of its yield-bearing collateral innovation to either fizzle out amid wash trading suspicions or evolve into a sustained challenge for Hyperliquid by leveraging efficiency, airdrop momentum, and ecosystem synergies, leaving the long-term trajectory an open question.

Morpho Powers USDC Lending on Coinbase

Since Sept 18, Morpho powers USDC lending on Coinbase, extending January’s crypto-backed loans (USDC against BTC) into a full onchain savings/borrowing loop. USDC deposits route to Morpho Vaults curated by Steakhouse Financial; borrowers (including Coinbase USDC-loan users) pay interest that auto-accrues to depositors. Early traction is strong: the Steakhouse USDC vault’s cumulative supply rose from ~$4.4M (Sept 18) to ~$35M (Sept 25), while cumulative supply originations climbed from ~$6M to ~$38M; total borrow originations are near $981M. The feature taps global borrowing demand to deliver sustainable yields, lifting Morpho TVL and marking a pivotal step in mainstream DeFi adoption. In practice, it’s a textbook “DeFi mullet”, fintech UX up front, institutional-grade DeFi in back, that seamlessly turns USDC (non-yielding by design) into a yield-generating stablecoin without users leaving the Coinbase app.

Flare's FAssets Unlock XRPFi

Launched on mainnet Sept 24, Flare's FAssets let users mint FXRP, an over-collateralized, onchain verified 1:1 ERC-20 for XRP, and use it across Flare’s L1 for lending, LPing, and yield, such as supplying on Kinetic Markets or trading perps on Flamix. Demand quickly exploded: ~4.5M FXRP were minted on day one, quickly exhausting the initial 5M cap, so Flare will raise the cap to 10M next week. Under the hood, agents post mixed collateral and tap the new Core Vault (multi-sig, time-locked reserve) to boost capital efficiency; early signals show ~100%+ proof-of-reserves, ~1,000 minters, Core Vault TVL ~$12.5M, and ~4.6M XRP in reserve. The launch, which has lifted Flare liquidity and activity sharply, effectively inaugurated XRPFi, hinting at a path to bring other non-smart-contract assets like BTC and DOGE into composable, over-collateralized DeFi.

Chainlink's SVR Turns MEV Into Treasury

Chainlink’s Smart Value Recapture (SVR), launched in December 2024, lets protocols using Chainlink Price Feeds reclaim non-toxic MEV (e.g., secure liquidation profits) by routing oracle calls through SVR-enabled feeds, capturing up to ~80% of Oracle Extractable Value and redirecting it to treasuries. Aave pioneered SVR on Ethereum in Mar 2025 (tBTC, LBTC, AAVE, LINK), then expanded coverage in May (to ~27% of TVL) and again in June, cementing its lead in MEV recapture. This past week, SVR crossed $1.7M total non-toxic MEV reclaimed since launch, with $500K in seven days of which $340K from Aave liquidations alone. By turning "wasted" liquidation alpha into protocol-native revenue, it empowers DeFi protocols to self-sustain amid MEV wars, potentially catalyzing a treasury renaissance where oracles evolve from mere data pipes into value engines.

Nothing in this newsletter constitutes financial advice.

Always do your own research.

Dune Digest is all about cutting through the noise and surfacing the most relevant onchain trends. If you have insights, dashboards, or data-driven stories that belong in the Digest, drop your suggestions here.

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Dune Team

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