The cross-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Yei Finance celebrated a remarkable debut day today, as its newly launched CLO token experienced a sharp surge. Released simultaneously on the Sei blockchain and Binance Smart Chain (BNB Smart Chain), the CLO token quickly climbed by approximately 245%, signaling strong initial market interest.
At launch, CLO’s market capitalization jumped from around $17.5 million to nearly $61 million within hours. Currently, around 13% of the total token supply is in circulation, with the token’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) standing at an impressive $475 million.
Yei Finance establishes itself as the leading DeFi protocol on the Sei blockchain, boasting total value locked (TVL) of roughly $229 million. This represents just over 47% of the entire DeFi liquidity across the Sei ecosystem, emphasizing Yei’s dominant role within the network.
The major contributor to Yei Finance’s TVL is its lending service, Yei Lend, which holds nearly all $227 million of the locked assets. This makes Yei Lend the largest lending platform operating on the Sei chain. However, when it comes to decentralized exchange (DEX) activity, Yei Swap, the protocol’s native DEX, trails behind other notable players in the ecosystem.
For example, Yei Swap processed $16 million in spot trading volume over the past week, outpaced by Sailor — the leading Sei-based DEX — which registered $124 million in spot volume during the same period. This illustrates an area where Yei Finance’s ecosystem still has room for expansion.
The Sei blockchain itself has witnessed substantial growth this summer, with records set in TVL and network activity. Despite this, the native SEI token has faced considerable price challenges. After reaching an all-time high of $1.14 in March 2024, SEI has since dropped nearly 80%, currently trading around $0.22 and carrying an FDV of approximately $2.2 billion.
Yei Finance’s successful token launch and significant TVL highlight growing interest in DeFi projects on Sei. The sharp rise of CLO token prices underscores investor appetite for cross-chain liquidity solutions, even as some elements of the broader Sei ecosystem experience volatility.
