Today's News Recap
Retirement Rally - Trump set to greenlight crypto in 401(k)s; Bitcoin rallies on retirement reform push.
Split Decision - Jury finds Roman Storm guilty of 1 of 3 counts in Tornado Cash trial.
Ripple x Rail - Ripple to acquire Galaxy-backed stablecoin firm Rail for $200 million
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Messari Protocol Reporting
Messari's protocol reports give you a deep dive on the foundation and state of top crypto protocols, including key metrics and notable events. See the complete list of protocol reports here and get a preview of our latest report below.
Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN)
19,000+ active Satellite Miners in 145+ countries, making it the world’s largest decentralized RTK (Real-Time Kinematics) network
Revenue rose 19% quarter-over-quarter to $963K, with annualized revenue approaching $3M
3.8M GEOD tokens were burned in Q2 (+67% QoQ), signaling steady usage and growing economic activity
Decentralized Wireless Network (DePIN)
Cellular coverage via a hybrid network (T-Mobile + Helium Hotspots)
2,721 TB of carrier data offloaded in Q2 (+138.5% QoQ); total paid traffic surpassed 5,520 TB
311,200 Helium Mobile sign-ups (+94.1% QoQ)
Becoming a Global Trading Engine through innovations like:
Decibel (a fully onchain CLOB trading protocol),
Shelby (Web2-grade data availability layer), and upgrades like Baby Raptr (faster consensus finality)
Increased 87.9% in APT, signaling stronger tokenized ecosystem usage despite market volatility
Quarterly DEX volume surged 310.3% to $9B, driven by Hyperion and ThalaSwap V2
Two Bits
Fluid Expands to Solana with Jupiter Lend
By: Alice Hou
On August 5, Jupiter Lend launched in private beta, introducing a lending market built directly into Jupiter, one of Solana’s most active DEXs with over $29 billion in monthly volume. Jupiter Lend is powered by Fluid’s core infrastructure, marking Fluid’s first major deployment outside the EVM ecosystem.
Borrower-First by Design
Unlike traditional lending protocols, Fluid is optimized for borrowers. It reduces net borrowing costs through two core features: Smart Collateral and Smart Debt. These mechanisms allow user positions to double as liquidity on Fluid’s DEX layer, converting otherwise idle assets into yield-generating capital.
This design has fueled rapid growth. Fluid recently surpassed an all-time high of $1.34 billion in borrowed volume, with $1.4 billion in TVL, about 85% of which is still on Ethereum. Its integration with Jupiter introduces Fluid to a new liquidity venue on Solana.
Composability, Now With Distribution
For years, composability was a DeFi aspiration: protocols stacked on protocols, but UX remained disjointed. That’s starting to shift. Fluid x Jupiter represents a larger trend toward unified platforms, where swapping, lending, and liquidity provisioning are part of the same seamless interface.
Just as important is where this composability happens. In today’s DeFi landscape, distribution is king. Protocols with the best mechanics won’t win unless they are integrated where users already operate.
Different lending protocols are taking different routes. Fluid is going multichain to tap into Solana’s existing base of active, crypto-native users. Aave is embedding directly into MetaMask to capitalize on wallet-level distribution. Morpho is building institutional bridges through its Coinbase Wallet partnership, leaning into a CeDeFi strategy. Each approach reflects a bet on where the next wave of user engagement will emerge.
What ties them together is a shift in mindset: the future of DeFi is not just about modular infrastructure. It’s about modular distribution, where lending is not a destination, but a feature embedded directly in the user journey.