Solana DeFi Overview
Week 21 largely followed the same trends as Week 20, with no major changes across the market.
DeFi TVL held near $5.5B, showing little change from the prior week. Most of the decline seen in Week 20 was driven by SOL price movement rather than capital leaving the ecosystem.
Stablecoin Supply
Stablecoin supply remained elevated at roughly $14B. USDC’s share stabilized around ~50%, a major shift from the 75% dominance seen earlier in May.
Stablecoin Supply
~$14B
→ Elevated, second week
USDC Share
~50%
↓ was 75% in May 11–17
DeFi TVL
~$5.5B
→ Stable (~66M SOL)
RWA TVL
$2.5B+
→ 182k+ holders · $1.2B+ lending
SOL ETF (May total)
$115M
↑ Record monthly inflow
BTC ETF (2-wk to May 28)
−$3B
↓ Continued outflows
Non-USDC stablecoins now represent roughly half of Solana’s stablecoin supply.
Stablecoin Supply USDC vs Non-USDC
Stacked bars: USDC (dark) + non-USDC (light). USDC share collapsed from 75% to ~50% in one week.
ETF Divergence
SOL ETFs recorded $115M of net inflows during May, the strongest monthly result of 2026. BTC and ETH ETFs recorded net outflows over the same period.
Solana was the only major crypto asset attracting sustained institutional ETF inflows during the period.
ETF Flow Divergence May 2026
SOL ETF May cumulative net vs BTC/ETH outflows. SOL is the only asset with sustained institutional inflows.
Network Health
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Daily Active Wallets | 3.2M |
| Annualized DEX Volume | $1.4T |
| Non-Vote Transactions | 33B |
| Protocol Revenue | $1.4B (annual) |
| App vs Base Revenue | 3.5× |
| Jito MEV Fees | $103M (monthly) |
Perp Meta
The main discussion in Solana perps remains unchanged: can Solana build a Hyperliquid-style trading experience inside the SVM?
Hyperliquid continues to dominate perp DEX volume. Solana’s largest venue, Drift, remains significantly smaller following the April exploit. During the week, Solana co-founder Toly publicly supported building a new atomically composable perp DEX within the SVM a longer-term infrastructure direction.
Final Take
Capital remained on-chain. Stablecoin diversification continued. And Solana was the only major crypto asset attracting sustained ETF inflows during the period.
P0 Overview
Week 21 was a week of rotation.
cgntSOL-based strategies weakened sharply, BTC Short lost its high-yield structure, and both major directional trades moved lower. Meanwhile, stablecoin strategies improved across the board as USDS stayed elevated and borrow costs declined.
corvusSOL was the week’s biggest winner, overtaking YIELD as the strongest campaign asset for the first time.
Snapshot
USDS Deposit
18%
↑ from 18% week 2 elevated
hyUSD Borrow
6%
↓ from 7% cheapest stablecoin borrow
USDS/USDT APY
62%
↑ from 58% top stablecoin arb
corvusSOL Effective
11%
↑ from 10% now beats YIELD
cgntSOL Borrow
6%
↑ from 1% emode tier gone
BTC Short APY
14%
↓ from 62% rebuilt as WBTC 2×
Rate Snapshot
| Asset / Rate | Week 20 | Week 21 | Δ (pp) | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| corvusSOL effective | 9.90% | 11.38% | +1.48 | Beats YIELD across every comparable pairing |
| cgntSOL borrow | 0.60% | 5.80% | +5.20 | All 7 standalone cgntSOL emode strategies eliminated |
| USDS deposit | 17.51% | 17.72% | +0.21 | Week 2 elevated USDS arb cluster intact |
| hyUSD borrow | 7.36% | 6.11% | −1.25 | Cheapest stablecoin borrow; ETH Long + JLP Long switched to it |
| USD* deposit | 7.65% | 8.55% | +0.90 | Two new USD* arb strategies opened |
| YIELD effective | 10.71% | 10.52% | −0.19 | Barely moved; W20 halving prediction was wrong |
| USDC deposit | 6.91% | 8.08% | +1.17 | Recovered as lend; borrow role gone |
| STKESOL effective | 6.83% | 7.68% | +0.85 | Emissions 1.61% → 2.69% |
| SOL borrow | 5.18% | 5.76% | +0.58 | Reversed W20 decline; headwind for SOL-borrow strategies |
| WBTC borrow | N/A | 3.02% | NEW | BTC Short APY: 61.61% → 14.03% |
| INF | 6.21% lend | 7.29% borrow | FLIPPED | 3rd flip in 3 weeks: borrow → lend → borrow |
Key Rate Changes: Week 20 vs Week 21
All rates in %. cgntSOL borrow included to show scale of the explosion (+5.20pp in one week).
cgntSOL Strategies
cgntSOL borrow costs jumped from 0.6% to 5% in a single week.
That eliminated all seven standalone cgntSOL eMode strategies that were launched in Week 20. This now leaves greater attractiveness on the lending side. However, some cgntSOL pairs persist within campaign structures where the campaign yield offsets the higher borrow cost, but the pure eMode LST carry trades are gone.
cgntSOL Strategies: W20 vs W21 APY
All four strategies compressed by the +5.20pp borrow rate surge. SOL Short declined the most (−12.28pp) but retains $44.1M capacity.
cgntSOL Strategy APY
SOL Short dominates on capacity ($44.1M) despite lower APY. Campaign pairs have ~$388k each.
Lend Rate vs cgntSOL Borrow
Purple = lend rate income. Red = cgntSOL borrow cost (5.80% across all strategies). Every strategy retains a positive spread despite the rate surge.
BTC Short Strategies
BTC Short fell from 61% to 14% APY after the zenBTC team exited the market.
The strategy was rebuilt using WBTC at a 2× leverage structure instead of the prior 7×. The WBTC borrow rate of 3% compressed the spread significantly. BTC Short capacity remained large, but yield is now comparable to mid-tier campaign strategies.
BTC Short: W20 vs W21 Structure
W20 (USDT/zBTC): leverage 7.67×, borrow 0.06%, APY 61.61%. W21 (USDC/WBTC): leverage 2.18×, borrow 3.02%, APY 14.03%. The borrow rate explosion and leverage collapse drove the −47.58pp APY drop.
BTC Short: Capacity vs APY
W21 offers lower yield but 4.4× more deployable capital. $47.1M available vs $10.8M in W20.
Directional Strategy Capacity
BTC Short ($47.1M) is the single largest directional by capacity. Combined BTC Short + SOL Short = $91.2M.
Stablecoin Strategies
USDS held above 17% for a second consecutive week while borrow costs fell, improving returns across all USDS-based strategies. The top opportunity remained USDS/USDT at 62% APY, followed closely by USDS/PYUSD and USDS/hyUSD.
USD* also gained relevance. Higher native yield increased returns and created two new strategies USD*/hyUSD and USD*/USDT with combined capacity above $55k, significantly larger than the capacity-constrained USDS opportunities.
The only major change was the disappearance of USDS/USDC after USDC borrow capacity became unavailable. It was Week 20’s top-ranked strategy at 63%.
| Strategy | Lend Rate | Borrow Rate | Leverage | APY | Capacity | WoW Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDS / USDT | 17.72% | 7.86% | 5.50× | 62.12% | $2,502 | +3.94pp |
| USDS / PYUSD | 17.72% | 7.97% | 5.50× | 61.60% | $2,408 | +1.06pp |
| USDS / hyUSD | 17.72% | 6.11% | 4.60× | 59.52% | $3,310 | +5.46pp |
| USD* / hyUSD NEW | 8.55% | 6.11% | 1.92× | 10.79% | $28,569 | NEW |
| USD* / USDT NEW | 8.55% | 7.86% | 2.00× | 9.25% | $26,411 | NEW |
| USDS / USDC (W20 #1) | 17.51% | 7.36% | 5.50× | 63.18% | n/a | GONE |
Stablecoin Strategy APY Week 21
USDS strategies offer higher APY but limited capacity ($2–3k). USD* strategies are lower APY but $26–29k each.
Campaign Update
Campaign strategies strengthened further in Week 21.
corvusSOL was the standout performer, rising from 10% to 11% effective yield. That increase pushed corvusSOL ahead of YIELD across every comparable strategy the first time corvusSOL has taken the lead.
YIELD remained relatively stable at 11%, contrary to the sharp decline expected after Week 20. STKESOL also improved as emissions increased from 2% to 3%.
Campaign Effective Rate Trajectory: W18 to W22 (est.)
YIELD, corvusSOL, STKESOL effective rates (%). W22 = projection at current velocity.
Full APY Ranking
31 strategies. Campaign pairs now occupy more of the top 20 than in any prior week. Directional strategies SOL Short and BTC Short have compressed toward campaign-tier APYs despite carrying the largest deployable capacity on the platform.
Full APY Ranking: All 31 Strategies, Week 21
Colored by strategy type. Directional strategies hold ~93% of total deployable capital.
Deployable Capital by Type: Week 21
Total ~$105.6M. Directional strategies hold 93.3% of available capacity.
Winners & Losers
Winners:
- corvusSOL/SOL: +8pp 42% → 49%
- USDS/hyUSD: +5pp 54% → 60%
- corvusSOL/JupSOL: +4pp 15% → 19%
- USDS/USDT: +4pp 58% → 62%
Losers:
- BTC Short: −48pp 62% → 14%
- SOL Short: −12pp 28% → 16% (cgntSOL drag)
- YIELD/cgntSOL: −8pp 24% → 17%
- YIELD/SOL: −5pp 48% → 42%
WoW APY Changes: Selected Strategies, W20 to W21 (Δ pp)
BTC Short capped at −20pp for readability (actual −47.58pp). Light = gained · Dark = lost.
What’s Next
Things to watch
- ◆Will USDS enter week 3 elevated? If yes, the one-week spike model is permanently broken for USDS.
- ◆Can corvusSOL native yield (~8%) hold, or will it revert toward the 6% Week 20 level?
- ◆cgntSOL at ~6%: stabilizing or continuing toward SOL parity and beyond?
- ◆Will YIELD emissions hold at ~3% or continue their slow decay?
Exit triggers
- ▲USDS-funded strategies: USDS deposit below 12%
- ▲corvusSOL/SOL: corvusSOL effective below 9%
- ▲SOL Short: cgntSOL borrow above 8%
- ▲YIELD/SOL: YIELD effective below 8%
Final Take
The high-return structures that dominated Week 20 weakened significantly. cgntSOL borrow costs jumped from 1% to 6%, removing most of the advantage from cgntSOL-based strategies. BTC Short also lost much of its yield after the team exited the market.
At the same time, stablecoin strategies improved across the board. USDS remained elevated, borrow costs fell, and USD* native yield increased. Every major stablecoin strategy either improved or was replaced by a stronger alternative.
Campaign strategies also gained ground. corvusSOL now delivers higher returns than comparable YIELD positions and remains the strongest campaign asset on the platform.
The key themes remain unchanged: stablecoin spreads, native yield, and campaign incentives continue to drive the best opportunities, while more complex leveraged structures have become less attractive.