New DeFi milestones for Flare protocols

Flare DeFi is experiencing a new phase of rapid growth, fueled by the recent deployment of USD₮0 on Flare, then a listing on Kraken. SparkDEX, Kinetic, and Sceptre are among the many protocols on Flare that have hit record highs in Total Value Locked (TVL) and volume since then.

What caused the rapid DeFi acceleration?

This surge in DeFi activity was driven by a combination of strategic launches and integrations that removed friction and unlocked new liquidity sources across the ecosystem. For a closer look at the flywheel in motion, we start with USD₮0.

USD₮0

USD₮0, a capital-efficient, omnichain version of USDT (backed 1:1 by Ethereum-based Tether) officially went live on Flare on April 28. In total, $60 million of USD₮0 liquidity was brought onto Flare, and it sparked a Flare DeFi boom. Within the first week, Flare’s overall DeFi TVL more than doubled from around $64 million to over $124 million on May 5, according to DeFiLlama. 

Today, the combined TVL of the Flare DeFi ecosystem is $155.6 million – a +160% increase in the short time since USD₮0 arrived. 

USD₮0 listing on Kraken

The momentum from USD₮0 accelerated further when Kraken, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, integrated USD₮0. In doing so, Kraken provided a streamlined on and offramp for both retail and institutional users. With the integration, users can move USDT directly onto Flare as USD₮0 — without bridges or third-party platforms required, therefore removing friction. 

Celebrating new milestones for Flare protocols

With USD₮0 as the catalyst, activity has been surging across Flare DeFi. Several key protocols have hit new milestones since USD₮0’s announcement.

SparkDEX

SparkDEX – a decentralized exchange and highest TVL protocol on Flare – saw its liquidity pools deepen drastically in recent weeks. As USD₮0 trading pairs gained traction, TVL and trading volume on SparkDEX climbed higher. By the one week mark since USD₮0 arrived on Flare, SparkDEX’s TVL reached an all time high of $45 million — a 254% increase in the first week of USD₮0. Just two days after that, SparkDEX hit a new all time high of $63 million in total TVL, with a 133% growth in liquidity on the platform.

At the time of publishing, the total volume of SparkDEX transactions has hit $1.42 billion since USD₮0.

Kinetic

Kinetic is the premier lending and borrowing protocol on Flare. Kinetic is another Flare protocol that saw record-breaking growth since the launch of USD₮0, which Kinetic users can use for liquidity provision, lending, and borrowing. The first week post-USD₮0 launch saw Kinetic’s total protocol TVL hitting $64 million — that’s up 178% from its $23 million TVL on April 28. 

Additionally, the total amount of supplied assets on the platform hit an unprecedented $47.5 million within that first week; currently, the total supplied assets sits at over $63.2 million. 

Kinetic continues to innovate, recently integrating token swaps directly into its app through OpenOcean, simplifying the user journey. The protocol has also rolled out ISO Markets and undertaken security enhancements, including a recent audit by Hacken.

Sceptre

Sceptre has firmly established itself as Flare’s leading liquid staking solution, offering user-friendly ways for holders to put their FLR to work. Since the USD₮0 launch, Sceptre’s total TVL increased by over 25%, from $19.77 million to $24.8 million. 

Sceptre users stake their FLR or wFLR to receive sFLR, a value-accruing token widely integrated across the Flare ecosystem. sFLR lets users earn staking rewards and FlareDrop benefits while keeping their assets liquid. In its first year, Sceptre attracted nearly 4,000 users, with over 1.25 billion FLR staked, totaling over $25 million.

Enosys

Enosys is a capital-efficient V3 DEX that brought advanced liquidity mechanics to both Flare and Songbird. The week following USD₮0 on Flare, Enosys’ total TVL went up 37.5%. 

Currently, Enosys users can supply liquidity in USD₮0 pools to earn yields. There is a total of 333,333 rFLR per day in incentives for active liquidity providers. Additionally, users who qualify are also eligible for delegation rewards and FlareDrops. 

The unique edge: Powered by Flare’s oracles

Flare DeFi is made seamless by Flare’s unique architecture, which deeply integrates native oracles into the network. Enshrined protocols like the Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) and Flare Data Connector (FDC) are built directly into the blockchain, delivering secure, decentralized, and highly scalable data feeds. This gives dApps like SparkDEX, Kinetic, and Sceptre a powerful edge: access to near real-time, reliable pricing and cross-chain data—without depending on third-party solutions. These native oracles enable precise liquidations, optimized trading, and innovative financial products not possible elsewhere, creating a more resilient and data-rich DeFi experience.

This robust foundation not only strengthens today’s DeFi protocols but also paves the way for the next major trend: XRPFi.

Building the foundation for XRPFi 

Beyond its immediate impact, USD₮0 is laying the essential capital base for Flare’s XRPFi vision by providing a native stablecoin that supports FXRP – and soon, liquid-staked XRP pairs. This deep, interoperable liquidity is crucial for enabling lending, borrowing, and trading opportunities centered around XRP. 

As Flare’s ecosystem grows, particularly with FAssets, stablecoin liquidity like USD₮0 will play a pivotal role in powering DeFi, and ensure sustainable growth and capital efficiency for XRP holders and DeFi participants.