Curve Finance has surged to capture approximately 44% of all decentralized exchange (DEX) fees on the Ethereum network over the past 30 days, according to data from DeFiLlama. This marks a dramatic increase from its roughly 1.6% share a year ago, signaling a major shift in on-chain activity. The protocol generated around $15.1 million in fees during this period, placing it just behind Uniswap in the rankings.
The growth is attributed to two primary factors: a significant expansion in trading volume for its native stablecoin, crvUSD, and its establishment as a hub for deep on-chain Bitcoin liquidity. Following integrations with Yield Basis, three BTC pools on Curve now rank at the top by both depth and total value locked (TVL). This positions Curve as core infrastructure for stablecoin swaps and yield strategies, with recent deployments on X Layer and Plasma further widening its footprint.
This resurgence in fundamental usage occurs against a backdrop of governance friction. The Curve DAO recently voted down a proposal to allocate 17.4 million CRV tokens (worth about $6.2 million) to Swiss Stake AG, the core development firm managed by founder Michael Egorov. The vote concluded with 54.46% against and 45.54% in favor. Notably, addresses linked to Yearn Finance and Convex Finance accounted for nearly 90% of the votes cast against the grant.
Community concerns centered on centralization of voting power, a lack of transparency regarding the use of prior funds, and suggestions that future grants should be distributed in installments to mitigate sell pressure on the CRV token. This rejection contrasts with a similar, overwhelmingly approved grant request from Egorov in August 2024, indicating tightening expectations within the DAO.
