DeFi

Solana has launched a five-stage rent reduction program on its mainnet that lowers the minimum SOL required to keep token accounts open. As the threshold drops, users can reclaim excess SOL previously locked in those accounts. Estimates suggest that by the end of stage five, up to 3.06M SOL could be available to claim, worth about $319M at current prices and viewed by some community members as a surprise “airdrop.”

USDD’s weekly update reported net TVL gains across TRON, Ethereum and BNB Chain, including a $17.41M increase on TRON and $10.56M combined growth on Ethereum and BNB Chain. USDD Vault added ETH and WBTC collateral support, allowing users to mint Ethereum-based USDD. SaveWallet integrated USDD PSM with JustLend DAO yield strategies. Pendle began Phase 2 of its sUSDD incentive program with $600K in incentives, while Gate DEX launched a USDD Bonus campaign.

Morpho’s outstanding loans climbed to a record $5 billion on Sept. 1, according to crypto analytics firm Messari. The milestone brings the decentralized lending protocol closer in scale to longtime market leader Aave. It also lifts Morpho’s visibility among fintechs and stablecoin issuers that route credit through the protocol.

Linea said its Yield Boost program is entering a new phase, gradually increasing the share of funds allocated to ETH staking from 10% toward 60%. Starting today, related ETH deposits are expected to begin entering Ethereum’s validator activation queue. The move marks a broader shift by the protocol toward ETH staking.

UNI rose 3.16% in 24 hours as USD 831.55 million turnover and recent permissioned-pool progress kept DeFi attention elevated.

Charles Schwab said it plans to add SOL to Schwab Crypto Direct, while Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF surpassed $1B in AUM in 10 months. Solana also closed its first binding on-chain governance vote, alongside a 25% network speed increase. The network additionally rolled out fixed-rate credit and a tokenization project tied to a graded 1997 manga magazine featuring Luffy’s debut.

USDD has launched an Ethereum-based USDD Vault that lets users mint the stablecoin using ETH and WBTC as collateral. The vault sets a minimum collateral ratio of 130% and a stability fee of 4%, operating via an on-chain CDP mechanism without intermediaries. The setup offers ETH and WBTC holders a way to unlock liquidity while maintaining exposure, and deploy minted USDD across more DeFi use cases to expand USDD’s multi-chain ecosystem and user reach.

MoonPay has integrated Solana-based lending protocol Kamino into its AI payments vault, PayBox. Eligible users can now lend and borrow on Solana directly through AI interfaces such as ChatGPT or Claude. The integration embeds DeFi functions into mainstream AI assistants, aiming to lower the barrier to using on-chain finance and broaden crypto payment use cases.

Ethereum staking has climbed to a new all-time high, with 42.40M ETH now staked, representing 34.77% of the total supply. Both the amount staked and its share of supply have set fresh records. More than one third of ETH is being used to help secure the network and earn yield, and the share continues to rise.

USDD said it has expanded its Vault to the Ethereum network, allowing users to mint the USDD stablecoin by depositing ETH or WBTC as collateral. The overcollateralized, user-controlled CDP model sets a minimum collateralization ratio of 130% and a stability fee as low as 4%. The move is aimed at improving capital efficiency by letting users unlock liquidity while retaining upside exposure to the underlying assets. It also positions USDD as evolving from a single stablecoin into a multi-chain yield infrastructure with on-chain yield opportunities.