While the broader crypto market may seem subdued, influenced heavily by macroeconomic factors, a new wave of innovative, tokenless protocols continues to emerge. These platforms offer users opportunities to engage in points farming—a popular mechanism often preceding token launches.
This article highlights nine such DeFi protocols where you can participate, potentially positioning yourself for future rewards. Always remember that interacting with decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and new DeFi primitives carries inherent risks; proceed with caution and conduct thorough research.
Ostium: Synthetic TradFi Asset Trading
The perpetual futures exchange space is intensely competitive, with leaders frequently changing. Ostium distinguishes itself by offering leveraged trading on traditional financial (TradFi) assets like the S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nikkei, gold, and copper—all on-chain.
Built on Arbitrum, Ostium provides synthetic on-chain price exposure to these real-world assets (RWAs) via oracle price feeds, without direct asset backing.
Key metrics indicate strong early traction:
- Total Value Locked (TVL) in its Ostium Liquidity Pool (OLP) reaches $46 million.
- Boasts 845 daily active users and 2,225 weekly active users.
- Total trading volume has surpassed $2.1 billion.
Points farming for traders and OLP depositors commenced on March 31st. For crypto-native users, accessing synthetic RWAs on-chain presents significant potential without moving stablecoins off-chain. 👉 Explore synthetic asset trading strategies
Axiom: Dominating Solana Trading
Amidst numerous Solana-based trading platforms, Y Combinator-backed Axiom, launched in February, has rapidly captured a dominant 44% market share. The platform and its founders maintain a notably low-key marketing profile, suggesting growth is driven organically.
Axiom's broader vision is to enable trading of any asset, including perpetuals, across any chain. Its points program is active, allowing users to earn through trading, completing tasks, and referrals. As speculative trading on Solana potentially rebounds, Axiom is well-positioned to benefit.
Fragmetric: Solana Liquid Restaking
For those who missed early opportunities in liquid restaking protocols, Fragmetric offers another chance. It is a liquid restaking protocol built on Solana where users deposit SOL or Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) to receive Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs) like fragSOL or fragJTO.
Restakers become part of the SolanA Network Guard (SANG), a community guarding the Solana ecosystem, and can earn extra rewards by securing new decentralized services. With a TVL of $125 million, it's beyond the earliest stage but still pre-token.
Users earn "F Points" simply by holding LRTs, with more points available for wrapping them for use in other DeFi applications. The project has raised $12 million, including a $5 million round from notable investors.
Loopscale: Modular Lending on Solana
Loopscale introduces innovation to Solana DeFi with its modular, order book-based lending model. This differs from the automated market maker (AMM) or pool-based models used by others, aiming for greater capital efficiency and precise risk management.
Users can lend/borrow, create "Loops" for leveraged yield strategies, or deposit into vaults. Recently concluded its beta, Loopscale launched Genesis Vaults offering 6x points until caps are hit. A popular strategy involves JUPSOL looping for over 22% APY, earning double points.
Its TVL is approximately $40 million, indicating a relatively early stage. Backing from major VCs adds to its credibility.
Upshift: Simplified DeFi Yield Vaults
DeFi complexity can be a barrier. Upshift simplifies this by offering curated vaults managed by experienced investment funds and managers. Strategies range from straightforward looping to complex delta-neutral hedging, OTC options, and systematic stablecoin market making.
Its core products include:
- Lending: On-chain, over-collateralized loans to verified institutions.
- DeFi Yield: Vaults selected by top-tier DeFi funds.
- Vaults-as-a-Service: Plug-and-play vaults for protocols.
- Synergies: Borrowing against vault deposits for enhanced capital efficiency.
With a TVL of $236 million, it offers 5x points on deposits until $750 million is reached. The project is supported by several renowned venture capital firms.
Level: Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Protocol
Level is a stablecoin protocol that issues lvlUSD, backed by USDC and USDT and yield-bearing through deployment on premium lending protocols. Users deposit USDC, which is then allocated to platforms like Aave or Morpho, and receive lvlUSD for use across DeFi.
By staking lvlUSD into slvlUSD, users can earn a base yield. However, to earn XP points for a potential future airdrop, users must utilize lvlUSD within other DeFi protocols—depositing it into liquidity pools on platforms like Curve, Spectra, or Pendle.
Holding a TVL of over $138 million and backed by strong VC firms, Level represents a promising, though competitive, opportunity in the stablecoin yield sector.
Huma: Real-World Payments and Yield
Bridging the gap between crypto and real-world finance, Huma (a merger with Circle-backed Arf) operates in the PayFi space. It uses blockchain and stablecoins (USDC) to facilitate instant, low-cost global settlements for financial institutions, disrupting traditional systems like SWIFT.
Users can earn yield in two ways:
- Classic Mode: Stable monthly yield + "Feathers" points (currently >10% APY).
- Maxi Mode: 0% APY but earn 5x Feathers points, betting on the future value of a prospective $HUMA governance token.
Depositors receive $PST (PayFi Strategy Token), a yield-bearing token usable within Solana DeFi. Huma's TVL stands at $81 million, with significant transaction volume processed. 👉 Discover advanced yield farming methods
DeFi App: The All-in-One Super App
Despite an aggressive marketing presence, DeFi App holds substance. It's the third-largest DEX aggregator by volume, facilitating hundreds of millions in weekly trades. It raised $6 million at a $100 million valuation from notable investors.
Positioned as an all-in-one super app, it aims to simplify DeFi. Its beta app features smooth cross-chain swaps across Solana and EVM chains without gas fees, with plans for yield farming and perpetual trading. The $HOME token is not yet launched.
Users earn points by swapping tokens and participating in the "Degen Arena," where top-ranking factions can earn a greater share of a future $HOME allocation.
Slingshot: Mobile-First Cross-Chain Swapping
For mobile-centric traders, Slingshot is a premier application offering seamless cross-chain token swaps. Its user onboarding is remarkably simple, akin to a Web2 application. A key point for potential airdrop hunters: its recent acquisition by Magic Eden may impact the likelihood of a native token.
A notable upcoming feature is the ability to swap Bitcoin Rune tokens, expanding its utility.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is points farming in DeFi?
Points farming involves performing specific on-chain actions—like trading, lending, or providing liquidity—in a protocol that has not yet issued its native token. Users accumulate points based on their activity, which often later translates into token allocations or other rewards during an airdrop event.
What are the main risks of participating?
The primary risks include smart contract vulnerabilities, potential project failure (rug pull or shutdown), impermanent loss for liquidity providers, and market volatility affecting deposited assets. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that points will result in a valuable token airdrop.
How do I choose which protocols to use?
Consider factors like the project's backing (VC investment), Total Value Locked (TVL) as a measure of adoption, the clarity of its points system, the usability of its product beyond farming, and the overall team and community reputation. Always start with small amounts.
Can points farming be profitable?
It can be, but it's not guaranteed. Profitability depends on the eventual value of any distributed tokens, which must outweigh the costs of transaction fees (gas) and the potential yield you could have earned depositing assets elsewhere (opportunity cost).
What's the difference between points and a traditional airdrop?
Traditional airdrops are often retroactive, rewarding past actions unexpectedly. Points programs are proactive and transparent; users know they are accumulating points for future rewards, which creates a more structured and predictable campaign, though the final reward formula may not be fully disclosed.
Do I need to be a technical expert to participate?
Not necessarily. Most of these protocols are designed with user-friendly interfaces. However, a solid understanding of core DeFi concepts like wallets, gas fees, swapping, and staking is essential to navigate them safely and effectively.