The rules of DeFi gaming have completely changed in the past two years.

From 2021 to 2025, the entire sector has undergone a brutal reshuffle. Projects that once relied on incentive mechanisms to siphon liquidity are now in a complete mess. Stars like CRV, CVX, and CAKE, which thrived on incentives, have been completely abandoned by the market as the incentive tide recedes, and capital continues to flee. But this is not the decline of DeFi; it’s just that capital has shifted to a different safe-haven track.

Where has all the money gone? It’s concentrated in the top players.

AAVE is a typical example. As the leader in the lending sector, it remains a dominant force even in a bear market. TVL has skyrocketed from $26 billion to $55 billion, doubling in size, which says everything — in the eyes of capital, only core assets are worth betting on. Focusing on these types of projects with your eyes closed significantly reduces risk.

Meanwhile, new mainstream sectors like liquidity staking and re-staking have become the new favorites for capital. LDO, EIGEN, ETHFI, and BABY, four dark horses, have gained strong positions, each holding tens of billions of dollars in TVL. A few projects dominate core liquidity, with high stickiness, making them highly attractive to institutions.

This is the true face of DeFi now: leading projects eat up the market, while small tokens can’t even get a sip of the soup. It’s exactly the same logic as platform tokens.

The core strategy for bottom-fishing in DeFi during a bear market is this — follow the flow of big capital, focus on top assets, and stay away from small, junk tokens. This isn’t conservatism; it’s clarity. Capital always votes with its feet, and all you need to do is keep up with the rhythm.