Comparing DeFi Crypto Investments: Which Tokens to Watch in 2025

With over 11,000 tracked pools to choose from and a wide range of other investment instruments available to all participants of the DeFi ecosystem, making an informed choice seems close to impossible. A surprising 33% of all crypto holders do not know much about digital assets in their portfolios and up to 31% think that the lack of safe custody is a big issue completely missing the point of DeFi.

The absence of clear guidelines on how to judge different investment opportunities in the decentralized finance sector is quite concerning for many newcomers who may not have the necessary experience to confidently step up and park their capital. We want to give you a couple of methods for analyzing DeFi tokens and talk about some of the best projects out there.

In 2025, the selection of DeFi instruments will surely increase. However, one must be careful when allocating capital within the crypto ecosystem because the year promises to be unpredictable due to the tense situation in global politics and economy. Make sure to do your due diligence and research projects you are interested in before committing.

Exploring DeFi crypto investments

While investors have access to all sorts of financial instruments in the DeFi ecosystem, we want to focus on several categories that generally perform better than others:

1. Liquidity provision is still one of the most reliable strategies in the ecosystem with many DEXes offering lucrative APYs. DEXes are represented by over 1,500 different protocols across 90 chains. Their combined TVL is over $25 billion as of the time of writing. These platforms are often consistent and have moderate risk. Some of the good tokens in this category are CRV (Curve DEX), CAKE (Pancakeswap), and AERO (Aerodrome).
2. Lending is often cited as one of the safest investment strategies for DeFi since all loans must be fully collateralized. It is one of the best ways of utilizing your stablecoins. Lending protocols form a respectable bunch of 470 platforms with a solid combined TVL of $49 billion. A good example of a solid investment is the USDT pool on Aave with a TVL of $823 million and an APY of over 6.37%. AAVE, COMP, and KMNO are good examples of tokens issued by protocols in this category.
3. Yield farming is a great idea for investors who are ready to take on some risk in exchange for a sizeable premium. One must contemplate risks associated with specific tokens when trying to make money by farming yields. For instance, Pendle is one of the best yield protocols in the sector with over 116 pools averaging 14.23% APY. Many pools with limited maturation have rewards in PENDLE. This token has been performing extremely well in 2024 but has been trending downward recently.

A short disclaimer before the next statement: we do not give financial advice in this article. Now, we would recommend going after tokens that are issued by the protocols from the categories above or that have high TVL numbers. In 2025, lending protocols and DEXes might be the safest bet for many investors.

Comparing DeFi tokens

Identifying the competitive advantages of various tokens can be a good idea for investors interested in allocating their capital to specific projects. We will give you an example of how you can look at multiple tokens at once and get a good grasp on how they are performing in the crypto market.

All of these tokens have shown strong performances during the last two years. However, Kamino Finance and its KMNO look the strongest in the short-term perspective since the circulating supply is less than 14% of the total supply and the overall price dynamic is still positive. It also has a respectable TVL.

On the other hand, AERO is one of the best examples of successful tokens in DeFi recently. It was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the initial success enjoyed by the Base chain. AERO has a good overall dynamic and the protocol is attracting investors with its solid APYs. Currently, Aerodrome operates 322 pools with an average reward APY of over 106%.

You can also use various trackers and aggregators to do similar research. Comparing tokens on DeFiLlama or CoinMarketCap is relatively easy. However, making custom tables and charts is often a better idea to concentrate on the data and get a better overall picture.

The best DeFi tokens to watch in 2025

Tracking the best tokens out of thousands that can be purchased in the DeFi sector is an ungrateful task. In many cases, it is a better idea to trust professionals or simply invest in an index like you would in the world of tradfi. For example, you can invest in a variety of DeFi indices at Rivo, which is a great destination for investors seeking advice from professionals.

If you want to simply buy and hold some tokens, here are good candidates from the world of DeFi:

• AERO is a great token for people who have faith in the Base network. Rivo has the Base Yield Index with a weekly APY of over 18%. The experts consider it an investment with moderate risk. Base is a promising ecosystem and AERO is one of its premiere tokens. It has a strong potential for short-term growth.
• DAI is an excellent choice for those who are into stablecoins. It was one of the first such assets in the ecosystem. You can invest in DAI by staking it for 6% using the DSR (DAI savings rate) module on MakerDAO or receive up to 6.83% APY on AAVE. This asset is an example of how communities affect the success of tokens. Democratic governance and community engagement keep this token in a healthy state.
• ETH is still the best option for people interested in exploring the world of DeFi. You can wrap it, stake it, and trade it! All versions of the token are quite useful and provide great benefits. For instance, you can use the liquid staking platform LIDO to receive up to 3.03% base APY and use stETH on fx Protocol for additional gains.

These are good choices for all investors regardless of their experience or preferences. Other honorable mentions are MATIC, SOL, CRV, and, of course, the king of them all Bitcoin.

The future of DeFi investments

The long-term prospect of the sector looks bright. Over 90% of institutional investors expressed their desire to start investing in the ecosystem while participating in a survey by Xangle in 2024. The 12-month TVL growth of over 123% and the influx of new money and users make a compelling case for the continuing evolution and expansion of the ecosystem.

However, we must keep in mind the impact of market conditions on investments in this sector. The 2025 promises to be chaotic and prices have already fluctuated strongly in January. Be prepared and do not panic! Everything is going to be alright!