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Active Currencies: 17,387
Market Cap: $2.361T
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24h Market Cap Change: $-0.50

DeFi tokens UNI, MKR lose lucky break: What’s going on?

Declining volumes affect UNI and MKR's prices. Will the tokens recover anytime soon?

DeFi tokens UNI, MKR lose lucky break: What’s going on?
  • The tokens’ volume dropped by 71.30% after reaching a high level in March.
  • Sentiment has begun to improve, but participants hesitated adding liquidity to the protocols.

Two months after registering an amazing rise in transaction volume, Uniswap [UNI] and Maker [MKR] have lost a chunk of that figure.

According to data from IntoTheBlock, the volume last week was only a little above $1 billion.

This represented a 71.30% decrease since the hike, which happened in March. Volume can have a good impact on price action. For instance, when the metric jumped in March, the price of these tokens rallied.

Numbers go down

At that time, there was speculation that UNI and MKR might lead the revival of DeFi tokens that were lagging.

DeFi stands for Decentralized Finance, and these cryptocurrencies have fundamentals related to the sector.

UNI and MKR transaction volume falls
Source: IntoTheBlock

As of this writing, UNI’s price was 7.50%— a 33.62% decrease in the last 24 hours. MKR also plunged within the same period by 23.17%.

These declines could be linked to the decreasing interest in the tokens. It could also serve as proof that AMBCrypto’s inference that DeFi tokens would find it hard to compete with meme coins could be valid.

Besides the price action and volume, Uniswap and Maker have been displaced from their spots in the ecosystem. Previously, both projects were in the top three when it came to TVL.

TVL is an acronym for Total Value Locked. The higher the TVL, the more trustworthy a protocol is perceived to be. But at press time, Maker was number four, while Uniswap was sixth.

Uniswap and Maker's TVL decrease
Source: DeFiLlama

Participants are not convinced yet

Despite the price correlation, the sentiment around both tokens differed. For example, Santiment data showed the UNI’s Weighted Sentiment was 0.181.

The sentiment for MRK, at press time, was -0.242. Positive values of the metric indicate a rise in positive comments about a project.

Negative readings, on the other hand, suggest that participants are not bullish on a token.

Therefore, one can infer that the market offered UNI some goodwill while it was not the same for MKR. But one thing AMBCrypto noticed was that the Weighted Sentiment for MKR was rising.

UNI and MKR sentiment in the market
Source: Santiment

Realistic or not, here’s MKR’s market cap in UNI’s terms


Should the metric jump into the positive area, interest in the token might improve. In the short term, MKR and UNI’s transaction volume might not increase to the levels seen in March.

Also, the prices of the token might move sideways for some time. However, if altcoins begin to move up simultaneously, the price of UNI might revisit $10. For MKR, an uptrend could lead the value to $3,300.

Disclaimer: AMBCrypto's content is meant to be informational in nature and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Trading, buying or selling cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk investment and every reader is advised to do their own research before making any decisions.

Victor Olanrewaju is a full-time journalist at AMBCrypto. Settled in Lagos, his fascination with blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency market arose out of his love of freedom and everything free. As a Nigerian, Victor understands the impact unfounded financial restrictions have on a population. He sees Bitcoin and cryptos as a way to circumvent these obstacles, as a tool for value creation despite all the setbacks. A graduate in Physics, Victor previously worked as a Senior Marketer at Melange Technologies. Before that, he dealt with crypto-marketers on a regular basis in his capacity as Copywriter at Ventrix Media. At AMBCrypto, Victor’s focus is on assessing the real effectiveness of both on-chain and off-chain developments on a project and its community sentiment.

AMBCrypto was founded in 2018 with a mission to simplify and bring the latest blockchain and cryptocurrency news to our readers. We have quickly grown into the digital news source for an emerging generation of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, reaching more than a million readers on a monthly basis, across the globe.