Crypto's DeFi boom less spectacular than seen at first glance, JPMorgan says

The growth of decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain-based financial services that avoid the use of conventional banks, may not be quite as impressive as overall ether (ETH-USD) gains may suggest, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase. Many DeFi applications run on the Ethereum network and use its native token, ether (ETH-USD), the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ether's (ETH-USD) price has soared 552% so far this year, far outpacing bitcoin's (BTC-USD) 121% gain. DeFi growth on the Ethereum blockchain has surged 780% this year, in dollar terms, reflecting the ether price rally, the team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in their report. But by volume, ether (ETH-USD) tokens used in DeFi increased at a slower, yet still strong, 50% rate in 2021, they added. The study also saw Ethereum's share of DeFi activity declining — to 70% currently from a near total-lock at the beginning of the year, they said.