Curve’s Week 35 snapshot shows another rise in activity across its decentralized exchange and lending markets, while the protocol’s highest advertised stablecoin yields remain heavily dependent on incentives. In Curve’s Week 35 report, dated August 27, the sUSG/reUSD pool led the rankings at an estimated 23.7% APY, followed by MUSD/USDC/USDT at 22.8% and OUSD/USG at 17.6%. The headline returns remain high, but their composition varies substantially between pools.
Curve calculates the rates using a modeled $100,000 deposit after dilution, incorporating trading fees, unboosted CRV emissions and active Merkl rewards. The protocol explicitly notes that the figures are variable and not guaranteed. Most of the leading USD yields are being generated by token incentives rather than organic trading fees, with sUSG/reUSD standing out because 8.98 percentage points of its 23.66% estimated return came from fees.
Curve DEX Volume Jumps 91%
Curve’s DEX recorded $1.1 billion in weekly volume, up 91.2%, while TVL increased 4.7% to $1.54 billion. Swap count rose more slowly, climbing 25.7% to 618,000, and pool fees reached $347,000. Volume growing substantially faster than transaction count indicates that average trade size increased during the week rather than activity rising solely through more individual swaps.
Llamalend also expanded sharply. TVL increased 33.4% to $243 million, with borrowed assets climbing 32.6% to $131 million and collateral rising 40.2% to $215 million. Supplied assets increased more modestly to $91.9 million. The highest listed lending supply rates were 6.7% for both USDC/WBTC on Optimism and crvUSD/svZCHF on Ethereum. The figures point to stronger lending activity, but aggregate collateral growth does not establish the health or withdrawability of every individual position.
crvUSD remained close to its intended dollar value at $0.9998, while minted supply jumped 76% to $66.3 million. PegKeeper reserves rose by $26.5 million to $65 million, substantially increasing the liquidity available to support the stablecoin’s peg mechanisms. Those reserve and price metrics provide a protocol-health signal distinct from TVL or trading volume, which primarily measure activity.
Incentives Still Drive the Highest Returns
The Week 35 ranking reinforces why liquidity providers need to look beyond headline APYs. MUSD/USDC/USDT, for example, generated only 0.27 percentage points from base fees while 22.57 points came from incentives. frxUSD/USG showed a similar structure, with 0.25 points from fees and 16.88 from incentives. Returns dominated by emissions can change quickly if reward programs are reduced, redirected or discontinued.
That distinction aligns with analysis from the Bank for International Settlements, which notes that automated-market-maker liquidity providers earn through trading economics but can also face losses when relative asset prices move, including impermanent loss. A high advertised DeFi yield therefore reflects compensation within a particular pool structure, not a risk-free interest rate comparable to a conventional deposit.
Curve’s latest publication remains a point-in-time operational snapshot rather than evidence of a structural market shift. Week 35’s clearest signals are sharply higher DEX volume, expanding Llamalend activity, stronger PegKeeper reserves and top stablecoin yields that continue to rely heavily on incentives. Whether those conditions persist will become clearer in subsequent weekly data.