Portals DeFi Weekly - 20th February, 2026

Welcome to the Portals DeFi Weekly, your weekly dose of the latest insights and analysis in DeFi. This week, we analyze the market's recovery from recent lows, explore top yield opportunities, and cover the latest developments in the DeFi ecosystem.

Market Pulse

• Total Market Cap: $2.404T (+1.6%)
• DeFi TVL: $96.817B (-0.52%)
• 24h Volume: $109.562B
• Fear & Greed: 9 (Extreme Fear)
• BTC Dominance: 56.9%

Summary

The market showed signs of recovery this week, with Bitcoin reclaiming the $67,000 level after a period of significant volatility. The overall market sentiment remains in a state of "Extreme Fear," with the Fear & Greed Index hovering at 9. Despite the price recovery, a "panic premium" lingers in options markets, indicating that investors remain cautious. Total market cap stands at $2.404 trillion, a modest increase of 1.6% over the past 24 hours. DeFi TVL saw a slight decrease of 0.52% to $96.817 billion, suggesting that capital has been slow to return to the DeFi ecosystem. Trading volumes remain robust at $109.562 billion, and BTC dominance holds steady at 56.9%.

The Yield Market Pulse

Top Opportunities This Week

This week's top yield opportunities reflect a mix of strategies, from straightforward lending to more complex structured products.

Morpho continues to offer competitive yields on both Ethereum and Base, with its Steakhouse USDC and USDC/cbBTC pools providing 5.37% and 4.71% APY, respectively. For those seeking higher returns, Midas' Fasanara ONE RWA pool on Ethereum offers an impressive 11.72% APY. Aave's USDT pool on Ethereum remains a reliable option for stablecoin lending, currently yielding 2.71%.

Morpho Steakhouse USDC

• APY: 5.37%
• Chain: ETH
• Type: Yield
• TVL: $299.98M
• Risk: Low-Medium

Morpho USDC/cbBTC

• APY: 4.71%
• Chain: Base
• Type: Yield
• TVL: $499.33M
• Risk: Low-Medium

Midas Fasanara ONE

• APY: 11.72%
• Chain: ETH
• Type: RWA
• TVL: $106.67M
• Risk: Low-Medium

Aave USDT

• APY: 2.70%
• Chain: ETH
• Type: Lending
• TVL: $4.67B
• Risk: Low

Current State and Sentiment Analysis

The yield market is currently characterized by a flight to quality, with investors favoring established protocols and simpler strategies. The recent market volatility has led to a compression in yields across the board, as borrowing demand has decreased and liquidity has become more concentrated in blue-chip assets.

Sentiment remains cautious, with many investors waiting for a clear signal of a sustained market recovery before deploying capital into higher-risk yield farming strategies. The significant outflows from many pools over the past week.

DeFi News

Key Developments in DeFi This Week

This week saw a flurry of activity across the DeFi landscape, with major players making moves in the regulatory, institutional, and technological arenas. Here are the key developments:

• Hyperliquid Establishes D.C. Policy Center: In a proactive move to shape the regulatory future of DeFi, Hyperliquid has launched a policy center in Washington D.C., led by prominent crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky.
• Canary Capital and Grayscale Launch Sui ETFs: The range of crypto exchange-traded funds continues to expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, with Canary Capital listing its Staked SUI ETF (SUIS) on Nasdaq.
• BlackRock Advances Staked Ethereum Trust: BlackRock has taken another step toward launching its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), filing an amended S-1 registration statement.
• Ethena Deploys Synthetic Dollar on Sui: Ethena has introduced a synthetic dollar stablecoin on the Sui network, backed by a $10 million vault.
• Institutional ETF Expansion: Grayscale has filed to convert its AAVE Trust into a spot ETF on the NYSE Arca, signaling a major shift toward institutional exposure for DeFi-native assets.
• Performance Diversification: High-cashflow protocols like Hyperliquid and Aave have outperformed market leaders like Bitcoin and Ethereum over the last 30 days.
• Moonwell Exploit: On February 14, 2026, the Moonwell protocol suffered an exploit resulting in $1.7 million in losses.

Portals Platform Updates

Improved and advanced Portals Explorer Homepage is here! Now you have a unified and intuitive interface for all your DeFi activities, from in-depth analytics to seamless execution.

New integrations on portals.fi Explorer:

• Spectrum
• Metavolts
• Strata NUSD
• RNA protocol

This week on The DeFi Drop Podcast, IPOR Fusion episode is Live! This is the first DeFi Drop episode in a new, more educational format, including a live product walkthrough to understand how IPOR Fusion actually works. Our aim is to showcase a deeper product exploration, more tactical education, and less surface-level conversation.

You can watch the full segment here. Next week guest? Stay tuned

The State of Chains

Top DeFi Protocols by TVL

Aave continues to dominate the DeFi landscape with a TVL of $25.30 billion, despite a 5.79% decrease over the past week. Lido and EigenCloud follow, with TVLs of $18.34 billion and $9.21 billion, respectively. The lending and liquid staking sectors remain the largest in DeFi, though both have seen modest declines in the wake of the recent market correction.

Chain Performance Analysis

Ethereum remains the undisputed leader in DeFi, with a TVL of $54.267 billion, representing 57% of the total market. However, alternative L1s are showing signs of strength. Solana has seen a 3.46% increase in TVL over the past week, and its DEX volume has surpassed that of Ethereum. BSC also remains a major player, with a TVL of $5.646 billion and a large user base. The Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem is also growing, with a TVL of $5.049 billion across 99 protocols. The performance of these and other chains will be a key factor in the future growth and decentralization of the DeFi ecosystem.

Looking Ahead: Market

Key Catalysts to Watch

As the market continues to navigate a period of uncertainty, several key catalysts could shape the direction of DeFi in the coming weeks and months:

• Institutional Adoption: The launch of new crypto ETFs, such as those for Sui and potentially a staked Ethereum product from BlackRock, could bring a new wave of institutional capital into the DeFi ecosystem.
• Regulatory Clarity: The efforts of organizations like the Hyperliquid Policy Center to create a clearer regulatory framework for DeFi in the U.S. could reduce uncertainty and encourage greater participation from traditional financial institutions.
• Layer 2 and Cross-Chain Innovation: The expansion of projects like Zora to new blockchains and the development of cross-chain protocols like DeBridge's MCP will be crucial for the scalability and interoperability of DeFi.
• AI and DeFi Convergence: The integration of artificial intelligence into DeFi applications has the potential to unlock new possibilities for automated trading, risk management, and personalized financial services.

Market Outlook

The market outlook remains cautiously optimistic. While the recent correction has shaken out some of the excess leverage in the system, the underlying fundamentals of DeFi remain strong. The continued innovation in areas like liquid staking, RWAs, and SocialFi, combined with the growing interest from institutional investors, suggests that the DeFi ecosystem is well-positioned for long-term growth. However, the short-term outlook will likely be influenced by macroeconomic factors and the evolving regulatory landscape.

About portals.fi: portals.fi is the DeFi Super App. A one-click gateway to the entire on-chain economy. Powered by real-time data and seamless execution, portals.fi connects traders to over 20 million assets, thousands of protocols, and every major blockchain.

Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only. It is not investment advice. Please do your own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. DeFi investments carry significant risks, and past performance does not guarantee future results. More details here.