Aave token surged 11% since midnight on September 29, driven by founder speculation about a token burn mechanism in the upcoming Aavenomics 3.0 upgrade. The move lifted the DeFi lending protocol’s native asset to $166.55, extending its 24-hour gain to 13%.
Stani Kulechov, Aave’s founder, said the protocol may add a token burn mechanism as part of the Aavenomics 3.0 upgrade. He did not specify the exact mechanism or timeline. The announcement sparked broader momentum in DeFi tokens, with the DeFi Select Index gaining 5.0% since midnight, the second time in a week it has led market gains.
The Aave rally reflected a wider bid across crypto assets despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds. Of the 100 constituents in the CoinDesk 100 index, 72 traded higher, pushing the index itself up 0.89% to 1,904.49. Bitcoin gained 0.82% since midnight UTC and 1.4% over 24 hours. The CoinDesk 100 index rose 0.89%.
Elevated Treasury yields weighed on traditional markets. The 10-year Treasury yield closed Monday above 5.2%, near levels last seen in 2007. The 30-year Treasury yield topped 5.56% on Monday, around a 2004 high. U.S. stocks fell for a second session on Monday, with the Dow dropping more than 300 points, while the S&P 500 declined 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%.
Chainlink emerged as a top performer, jumping 14% over 24 hours. Curve DAO token gained 5.2% since midnight and 22% over 24 hours. Internet Computer rose 8.3% since midnight and 14% over 24 hours. Quant climbed 17% since midnight and 13% over 24 hours, though it had declined 16% on Monday after gaining 39% on Friday. Avalanche gained 7.0% since midnight and 8.4% over 24 hours.
Privacy tokens diverged sharply. Zcash fell 4.1% since midnight, 8.4% over 24 hours, and 13% below Friday levels, extending a three-day decline with falling futures open interest. Dash dropped 6.4% since midnight. Hedera declined 3.2% since midnight despite a 9.5% gain over 24 hours. Litecoin slipped 0.51% since midnight and 2.3% over 24 hours.
Futures markets showed signs of caution. Bitcoin futures open interest slipped to 644K BTC, the lowest since March 4. Chainlink futures open interest rose 4% with an annualized funding rate of 2%. Total futures open interest stood at $149.36 billion as of 09:45 UTC. Volume reached $218 billion, up 26%, while liquidations remained flat at $389 million.
Funding rates for Bitcoin futures returned to positive territory after negative readings the prior day. Bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indices remain near year-to-date lows, with Bitcoin’s implied volatility index at 37.4%.
Whale accounts showed a long bias. Binance whale long/short ratio stood at 1.88, while whale accounts overall held a 1.31 ratio. Retail traders maintained a 1.24 long/short ratio.
