Cardano ADA Ecosystem Q2 2023: DeFi Growth, Stablecoins, and NFT Trends

Cardano ($ADA) ecosystem has witnessed significant growth and development in Q2 2023, according to Messari's recent report. From the rise in stablecoin value to the expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the network has seen remarkable progress.

Key insights from the report include a 34.9% QoQ growth in the total stablecoin market cap on Cardano, reaching $13.5 million, with Indigo Protocol leading the stablecoin and synthetic asset issuance.

Protocols created in the last ~6 months accounted for 47.4% TVL dominance in Q2. Cardano's TVL (USD) was up 9.7% QoQ, moving from 34th to 21st in TVL ranking across all chains. Average daily dapp transactions were up 49% QoQ, with Minswap leading the growth.

In the DeFi sector, Minswap remained the liquidity king, ending Q2 with a TVL of $48.8 million. New protocols like VyFinance, Liqwid Finance, Djed, and Optim Finance also grew. Indigo and Djed emerged as the main stablecoin issuers, with Indigo witnessing a total liquidation volume of $3.6 million from 870 liquidations in Q2.

NFT transactions were down 35.7% QoQ, with total quarterly trading volume falling 41.9% QoQ to $46.2 million. Notable initiatives included the UN Refugee Agency using NFTs for charity. Milkomeda C1, launched in early 2022, brought EVM compatibility to Cardano, with daily unique contract callers surging 279.9% QoQ, driven by the gaming sector's growth.

Project Catalyst, a decentralized fund for innovative projects, funded 1,163 proposals in nine rounds, with Fund 10 allocating 50 million ADA (~$14 million) among 13 Challenges. Cardano developers are building tools to support languages like Marlowe, Aiken, Plu-ts, Helios, and OpShin.

IOG launched a toolkit for building custom sidechains, and Wanchain announced its bridge on the Cardano preview testnet. Hydra, a family of scaling protocols, opened its first Head on the Cardano mainnet in March 2023, marking a significant step in scaling solutions.

Cardano's ecosystem is expanding rapidly, with DeFi owning the spotlight in Q2. New protocols are emerging, and incumbent ones are building and maintaining a presence. The growth in stablecoins, NFTs, gaming, and Layer-2 solutions indicates a vibrant and evolving ecosystem.

With Project Catalyst Fund 10 in progress and continuous development in various sectors, Cardano's future looks promising and filled with opportunities for innovation and growth.