Whales are offloading DeFi tokens while Ethereum (ETH) recovers higher price levels

Whale wallets are offloading a part of their DeFi token holdings, as the entire sector is unwinding from a recent all-time high. DeFi tokens peaked in total market capitalization, leading to a round of profit-taking.

Whales are taking profits from DeFi tokens, trying to lock in the gains of what looked like a short-term altcoin market. The profit-taking originates from individual wallets but reflects a trend for the whole sector.

DeFi tokens as a whole reached a new peak in 2024, driven by the growth of Aave (AAVE) and other platform tokens. According to data from DeFiLlama, DeFi expanded its total value locked to $129B at the beginning of 2025, though still far from the 2021 peak.

DeFi tokens as a whole were valued at $134B, including most of the large-scale protocols, as well as the leading lending pools. DeFi expanded in the past year, as Ethereum (ETH) achieved stability. In early 2025, DeFi tokens sparked profit-taking, just as ETH was stabilizing at around $3,700.

The altcoin season index increased from 47 points to 59 points in a day, though still not pointing toward a stable altcoin season. However, even the short-term rallies were enough to draw out whales with short-term trading strategies.

Whales move AAVE, ENA to Binance

One of the recent sales comes from a whale wallet that accumulated AAVE during the summer months. The wallet deposited 19,001 AAVE for a potential profit of $4.93M based on a much lower cost basis.

The selling coincided with a local high for AAVE at above $353, after which the asset slid to $343. AAVE was among the most actively traded tokens, which encompassed the top 10 of all DeFi assets.

The wallet, labeled as token millionaire, has focused on a handful of top tokens from the DeFi space and the AI narrative. The holder’s approach is to buy and sell within weeks or months when the asset has made sufficient gains. Previously, the same wallet has accumulated Render (RNDR) and Maker (MKR), later liquidating all holdings.

Another wallet focused on Ethena (ENA), unstaking 4.96M ENA and depositing the tokens to Binance. The whale’s cost basis is $0.75 per ENA, and the potential sale price is $1.23. While DeFi tokens did not grant outsized gains, they still had a solid rally in the past months. The wallet’s main activity is creating Collateralized Debt Positions (CDP). The wallet’s other holdings include ETH, USDE, EIGEN, CBBTC, and other smaller holdings for collateralized lending.

Can DeFi make a comeback?

DeFi remains one of the main narratives for the past year. However, the share of mentions has been falling since November, taken over by the AI token hype. The DeFi mindshare on social media has fallen to 4.51%, even smaller than the meme token mentions. AI, memes, and GameFi were among the hot short-term narratives, while DeFi tokens were still trading sideways, potentially leading to accumulation.

The lower social media mentions do not reflect the fact that DeFi is a staple for the crypto space. DeFi blue chips, including MKR, AAVE, and UNI, also have a different trading profile, with slightly better returns in the first week of 2025.

DEX activity started the new year with peak volumes, making up more than 19.5% of centralized exchange volumes based on the DEX to CEX ratio. The recently reported fee levels point to Raydium, Uniswap, and PancakeSwap as key activity hubs.

DeFi may also benefit from the record supply of stablecoins, rising above 200.6B. Ethena’s USDE retains 5.9B tokens, while DAI is still at 4.5B tokens. USDT is near its peak supply at 141.2B, despite recent token burns. All of those assets signal expansion for the biggest lending protocols.

ETH trading at $3,696.21 is also key for DeFi collaterals, as well as the most active DEX pairs. Activity on decentralized exchanges includes meme coins, in addition to highly liquid pairs to swap wrapped ETH. Despite Solana’s expansion, most DeFi is still based on Ethereum and the leading L2 chains.

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