The DeFi narrative is the original on-chain finance cluster — DEXes (Uniswap, SushiSwap, Curve, Balancer), lending (Aave, Compound, Spark), perps (GMX, dYdX, Hyperliquid), liquid staking, restaking- adjacent products, and the broader yield economy. It’s the largest, most mature narrative on the site.
What drives heat
- Yield cycles — when stablecoin or LST yields rise broadly, DeFi heat lifts.
- New product launches — high-profile DEX, lending, or perps protocols going live.
- Exploit and incident news — DeFi heat also spikes on negative events; check sentiment to distinguish.
- Cross-narrative pulls — when RWA collateral or restaking products gain traction, both flow back into DeFi heat.
How to read momentum here
DeFi has the deepest history and the most asset breadth, so heat changes are more meaningful but also slower. A sustained climb in momentum (multi-week) is a much stronger signal than a one-day heat spike. Acceleration changes can foreshadow regime shifts.
Common misreadings
DeFi heat is sometimes lifted by negative events (exploits, depegs) — always check the average sentiment of the cluster before interpreting a heat spike as bullish. Research only — not financial advice.