- DeFi project Aave has seen its LEND token rise 250% in just five weeks
- The project has seen its locked-in value increase 500 fold this year alone
- ETHLend was a trailblazer in the space, launching in 2017
LEND, the token associated with the DeFi loan provider Aave, has quietly gone 250% in just five weeks as the DeFi projects continue to outpace the rest of the market. While COMP has grabbed all the headlines in recent weeks, LEND has quietly gone about increasing its locked-in value around 500 fold since the turn of the year, while the token price has ridden the DeFi wave to increase by almost 3x in the same time frame.
Aave Gets LEND Rocking
LEND is one of the OGs in the DeFi space, having first hit exchanges during the 2017 bull run. Back then the token was owned and the project operated by ETHLend, but in January this year parent company Aave Protocol moved to providing flash loans and moved LEND over to that platform. This proved to be particularly prescient timing as the DeFi craze really kicked off at the start of the year, when LEND was stuck at $0.008, having been stagnating in that area since December 2018, doing a very good impression of a dead goldfish.
Aave started 2020 with some $300,000 in locked value, but the DeFi craze has seen the platform take off, hitting $10 million in February, $50 million in May, and $100 million two weeks ago:
The token has more than matched this incredible performance, enjoying the benefit of being one of the more established players in the space. COMP may have grabbed the headlines recently with its price performance, and with good reason, but LEND has seen some stunning gains in 2020 too:
The fact that no one is talking about LEND’s incredible year is testament to DeFi’s strength in 2020, but the platform itself must take some credit. LEND was into DeFi way before Defi was cool, and it is nice to see a visionary project reaping its rewards. It currently sits fifth in the DeFi tables with $137 million currently locked in, while the project itself has expanded from its initial premise in 2017 to take in many more areas of DeFi.
DeFi Trailblazer LEND Getting its Rewards
ETHLend wasn’t the first DeFi project on the block but it was one of the earliest, and so often in technology we see the trailblazers lose ground to later, slicker, more streamlined and sexier offeings. ETHLend, now Aave, has already outlasted the likes of Salt and has moved with the times, placing itself firmly at the heart of the DeFi movement, and it won’t be long until LEND’s incredible performance this year gets the recognition it deserves – especially if it keeps on going.
