The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) landscape is a highly competitive and rapidly changing arena, and NEAR Protocol has quickly established itself as a major player within this space. Renowned for its scalability and developer-friendly approach, NEAR has been the destination of choice for a tsunami of new DeFi projects. Friend of Token explores the top 10 projects poised to shape the future of NEAR DeFi in 2025, offering insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and potential impact. We hope this article will provide all users with a clear understanding of the NEAR DeFi ecosystem to smartly direct their attention and capital.

Top DeFi Projects on NEAR Protocol

This post showcases ten leading DeFi projects that call the NEAR Protocol home, exploring how their innovative offerings have advanced the NEAR ecosystem.

  1. Ref Finance: As the first DeFi platform on NEAR, Ref Finance is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that facilitates cross-chain swaps. With a Total Value Locked (TVL) of approximately $225 million and a weekly user base exceeding 120,000, Ref Finance remains a central hub for trading and liquidity provision on NEAR.

  2. Burrow: Burrow is a lending and borrowing protocol similar to Aave and Compound, but it runs natively on the NEAR blockchain. It enables users to lend and borrow digital assets, earning interest on deposits and accessing loans. Burrow boasts a TVL of around $150 million and engages over 85,000 users weekly.

  3. Meta Pool: Meta Pool specializes in liquid staking, allowing users to stake their NEAR tokens while maintaining liquidity through derivative tokens. This enhances capital efficiency and provides additional opportunities for yield generation. Meta Pool holds a TVL of approximately $130 million and serves a weekly user base of 60,000.

  4. Jumbo Exchange: Jumbo Exchange differentiates itself with a gamified DEX experience, incorporating trading quests and NFT-based fee discounts to enhance user engagement. This innovative approach aims to attract a broader audience to DeFi. Jumbo Exchange has a TVL of about $70 million and attracts 40,000 users weekly.

  5. PembRock: PembRock offers leveraged farming opportunities, providing users with the potential for high Annual Percentage Yields (APYs). However, this comes with increased risk, including the possibility of liquidation. PembRock's TVL is around $50 million, with a weekly user base of 25,000. User education is crucial for navigating the risks associated with leveraged farming.

The success of DeFi projects frequently depends on an understanding of community and an ability to be responsive to needs specific to a locality. SushiSwap’s artful community migration from Uniswap is a shining example of community-driven development gone right. It’s not alone. Yearn’s governance model incentivizes community members to identify, propose, and implement improvements, cultivating a deep sense of belonging and engagement. Real amazing local projects such as Coin98 focus on Vietnamese users only. They focus on educational content and design intuitive user experiences to increase usability.

  1. Trisolaris: An established DEX on Aurora, NEAR's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), offering familiar trading experience.

  2. Bastion Protocol: Another lending and borrowing platform on Aurora, leveraging cross-chain capabilities.

  3. Rose: A stablecoin-focused AMM, promoting efficient swaps between stable assets.

  4. Spin: A decentralized derivatives exchange, venturing into more complex financial instruments.

  5. Paras: An NFT marketplace built on NEAR, facilitating the trading of digital collectibles.

The Rise of Community and Local Initiatives

Equity, accessibility, and inclusion are key to the growth of DeFi ecosystems. Collaborations with Layer 2 solutions like Polygon enable DeFi platforms to provide enhanced transaction fees. This direct improvement not only results in faster processing times but both are key to maintaining user attention and increasing overall growth. Cross-chain compatibility is the ability to transfer assets seamlessly across different blockchain networks. This feature significantly improves the accessibility and usefulness of DeFi protocols.

Partnerships and Interoperability

As the NEAR DeFi ecosystem continues to grow and innovate, be sure to do your research and understand the risks that come along with them.

Navigating Risks in NEAR DeFi

Before plunging into NEAR DeFi, as always, do your own research. Here's how to approach it:

Understanding Potential Vulnerabilities

  • Smart contract risks: Liquidity pools lock two cryptocurrencies in a smart contract, and if not properly secured, can be vulnerable to attacks.
  • Flash loan attacks: Malicious actors can borrow a large sum of one token and swap it for another to manipulate the price of both tokens.
  • Liquidity pool risks: When a user provides liquidity, they must deposit two types of assets, and as other users buy and sell tokens from the pool, the asset ratios shift, increasing the value of one while lowering the value of the other.
  • Market manipulation: Malicious actors can create a new cryptocurrency, shill it on social media, and convince people to buy it from the liquidity pool, manipulating the price.
  • Regulatory risks: The DeFi ecosystem may face scrutiny from regulators, as seen in the case of LBRY being deemed an unregistered security.

DYOR: Actionable Insights for Exploring NEAR DeFi

A straightforward approach to gauge user adoption would be monitoring the growth of unique active wallet addresses. These addresses are transacting with DeFi protocols. For this particular project, active wallet addresses are the most straightforward metric to gauge how many people are regularly using the platform. TVL is perhaps the other most important metric, which is the total value of assets locked in a DeFi protocol. It’s an indication of the entire market’s health and confidence in the platform.

  1. Understand the Tech: Start by learning about the basics of NEAR protocol, its architecture, and the technology behind it. Understand how it addresses the drawbacks of other protocols in the DeFi space, such as high gas fees and scalability issues.
  2. Know the Team Reputation: Research the team behind the NEAR DeFi project. Check their credentials, experience, and track record. A transparent and reputable team is essential for a project's success.
  3. Project Tokenomics: Study the tokenomics of the NEAR DeFi project. Understand the token distribution, supply, and demand. Check if the tokenomics is well thought out to avoid inflation and ensure the project's growth.
  4. Developer Activity: Look into the developer activity on the NEAR protocol. Check if there are active developers contributing to the project, and if there are any notable developments or updates.
  5. Trading Activity: Analyze the trading activity of the NEAR DeFi project's token. Check the liquidity, daily trading volumes, and if there are any signs of manipulated trading activities.

Metrics for Gauging User Adoption

The NEAR DeFi ecosystem is full of groundbreaking innovation and opportunity. Get smart on the front-running projects, and make your evaluation of the risks. With proper research under your belt, you can enter this thrilling new frontier with confidence! Friend of Token will be bringing you more reflections and news from the fast-changing world of DeFi.

The NEAR DeFi ecosystem is brimming with innovation and potential. By understanding the leading projects, assessing the risks, and conducting thorough research, users can navigate this exciting space with confidence. Friend of Token will continue to provide updates and insights on the evolving world of DeFi.