Chaos Labs - Deprecation Plan for Low-Activity Markets

Overview

This report aims to conduct a unified review of the Venus markets across all instances. Following a comprehensive analysis of on-chain data, we present deprecation recommendations for low-activity markets and evaluate highly active markets within isolated instances for potential inclusion in the Core Market. The goal is to improve overall capital efficiency across the Venus ecosystem and drive greater user participation.

BNB

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
BNB 961.69K $580.74M 598.59K βˆ’10.29% βˆ’8.15%
USDT 399.74M $398.08M 204.05M –12.34% +0.63%
USDC 175.94M $176.66M 101M –3.89% +25.75%
ETH 48.57K $88.76M 23.37K +1.02% –12.30%
FDUSD 15.15M $15.07M 13.07M –17.75% –56.78%
XRP 13.35M $28.39M 2.72M +3.57% +48.49%
VAI - $2.43M 2.45M - -
DAI 3.3M $3.26M 1.72M +4.76% –11.29%
TUSD 94.63K $94.46K 48.26K +65.24% –37.00%
USDe 5.02K $5.03K 4.05K +0.40% -
XVS 670.12K $3.88M - +17.75% –11.99%
lisUSD 1.05M $1.05M 347.72K +5.00% -
THE 9.43M $2.26M 3.51M –6.36% +54.84%
DOT 764.47K $3.03M 109.37K +2.56% +8.10%
TRX 4.86M $1.2M 629.03K –6.68% –23.95%
BCH 2.45K $939.3K 287.66 +3.51% +5.38%
SOL 25.61K $3.88M 2.78K +12.67% +5,105.69%
MATIC 1.97M $437.93K 142.63K –27.31% –28.62%
LINK 362.6K $4.88M 18.58K +1.96% –13.47%
DOGE 36.16M $6.22M 1.03M +7.62% –25.38%
FIL 527.12K $1.36M 14.26K –0.52% +12.56%
ADA 13.97M $9.35M 354.37K +19.60% +4.57%
AAVE 5.9K $1.01M 334.75 –1.67% –37.23%
BTCB 9.25K $891.91M 496.79 +20.44% +8.44%
LTC 90.6K $8.11M 912.98 –3.16% –0.80%
CAKE 12.15M $30M 128.34K +12.71% +3.49%
solvBTC 420.71 $40.92M 12.08 –53.38% +11.36%
wBETH 21.74K $41.96M 569.52 +173.95% +185.97%
TWT 3.15M $2.41M 7.02K +4.30% +240.20%
UNI 2.16M $10.73M 10.09K +17.39% +119.08%
sUSDe 2.01M $2.35M - - -
BETH 120.64 $221.64K 6.04 –8.51% –10.97%
PT-sUSDE-JUN2025 32.29K $32K - - -

BTC Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
BTCB 0.41 $40.98K - –72.67% –72.67%

Liquid Staked ETH Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
ETH 17.98 $34.12K 3.12 0.00% +0.11%
wstETH 3.72 $8.5K - 0.00% 0.00%
weETH 3.7 $7.5K - 0.00% +14.55%

Defi Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 198.79K $198.79K 16.17K +3.04% +1.60%
ankrBNB 0.21 $141.5 0.01 0.00% 0.00%
ANKR 81.67K $1.5K 3.42K –74.45% –75.42%
BSW 971.95K $36.86K 5.21K –23.77% –26.48%
TWT 57.27K $44.81K 111.36 –0.05% –12.55%
ALPACA 53.32K $20.82K 24.26 –85.23% –69.46%
USDD 10.15K $10.15K 464.32 0.00% 0.00%

GameFi Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 415.2K $415.17K 142.73K –9.21% –60.23%
USDD 11.7K $11.7K 3.31K 0.00% –3.70%
FLOKI 8.84B $712.43K 18.45M +0.07% –55.64%
RACA 980.02M $82.05K 1.93M 0.00% +282.82%

Liquid Staked BNB Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
WBNB 1.02K $633.17K 889.18 +27.68% +152.99%
slisBNB 1.17K $749.26K 217.48 +637.91% +330.59%
ankrBNB 126.22 $85.43K 16.16 +32.01% +31.85%
BNBx 254.05 $172.93K 0.06 +0.03% +18.31%
asBNB 2K $1.3M - +1,823.08% +10,426.32%
PT-clisBNB-24APR2025 0.29 $182.11 - - -

Meme Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 9.21K $9.21K 3.02K +6.47% +38.50%
BabyDoge 61.16T $82.08K 1.33T +11.65% +11.73%

Stablecoins Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 18.28K $18.28K 1.9K +0.11% –9.17%
lisUSD 29.69K $29.68K 480.29 –0.03% –1.69%
USDD 10K $10.01K 1.19 0.00% 0.00%

Tron Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 10.42K $10.42K 3.5K +0.19% –1.04%
TRX 194.75K $48.85K 9.92 +2.11% –0.16%
BTT 18.89B $13.6K 2.2M –0.11% –26.15%
USDD 20.11K $20.12K 0.43 0.00% 0.00%
WIN 138.92M $7.32K 79.06 0.00% βˆ’8.12%

Recommendation

BNB Core Pool

We believe there are no assets in the Venus BNB Core Pool that require immediate deprecation. Among the 33 assets listed in the Venus BNB Core Market, only 6 have a total supply below $1M, while the rest exceed that threshold, with BTCB leading at $891M in supply. Of the six lower-supply assets, PT-sUSDE-JUN2025 and USDe were recently deployed. TUSD and BCH have both shown positive supply growth over the past month.

Regarding BETH and MATIC, both assets have maintained relatively stable supply levels over the past six months and are not entirely inactiveβ€”each recorded active transactions in the week leading up to this publication. While both have experienced some decline in total supply, their current supply remains above $200K, which is not low enough to justify immediate deprecation. Given this context, we do not recommend deprecating any assets within the Venus BNB Core Pool at this time, though continued monitoring is warranted.

BNB BTC Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the BTC Pool. Currently, the pool only contains BTCB, with a total supply of just 0.41 BTCBβ€”approximately $40Kβ€”which is relatively small in the context of protocol-wide TVL. Additionally, the pool has shown no signs of growth over the past three months. Given the limited usage and persistent inactivity, we recommend deprecation.

BNB Liquid Staked ETH Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the BNB Liquid Staked ETH Pool, as its intended function is no longer supported. The pool was designed for users to supply liquid staked ETH assetsβ€”wstETH and weETHβ€”and borrow WETH against them. However, both wstETH and weETH have remained inactive over the past three months, with negligible supply, no borrowing activity, and minimal market size. wstETH has shown no growth or decline during this period and currently has only three holders, with a total market value of less than $8.5K. Similarly, the weETH market exhibits the same characteristics, with only 3.7 weETH supplied, zero borrowing activity, and no observable growth trend.

Given the suggested deprecation of both collateral assets, the pool would no longer fulfill its intended purpose, rendering the remaining WETH market functionally obsolete. Therefore, we recommend deprecating the BNB Liquid Staked ETH Pool in its entirety.

BNB Defi Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating USDD, ankrBNB, and ALPACA from the DeFi Pool. The recommendation to deprecate USDD is consistent with the rationale outlined in this post. Similarly, ankrBNB has shown no signs of growth over the past 90 days, with only $141.5 supplied and $10.5 borrowedβ€”indicating extremely limited market activity and usage. Lastly, we recommend deprecating ALPACA, in line with the assessment provided in this post.

BNB GameFi Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating USDD from the GameFi Pool, as previously proposed in this post.

Of the remaining two assets, RACA has seen a 282% increase in supply over the past three months, while FLOKI has experienced a decline in supply but continues to show on-chain activity. Therefore, we do not recommend any changes to these two assets at this time.

BNB Liquid Staked BNB Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating PT-clisBNB-24APR2025 from the Liquid Staked BNB Pool, as it has already reached its expiry date on Pendle.

Other assets in the pool have shown growth over the past month and do not require deprecation at this time. However, their supply levels remain below the typical 1M threshold seen in Core Pool assets. We suggest continued monitoring to assess whether deprecation or migration to the Core Pool becomes necessary.

BNB Meme Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the BNB Meme Pool. The pool currently contains two assets: BabyDoge, with a total supply of $82.08K, and USDT, with only $9.21K supplied. This imbalance significantly limits the pool’s utility, as users supplying BabyDoge have little to borrow due to the low availability of USDT. Given the lack of practical use and constrained functionality, we recommend deprecating the pool.

BNB Stablecoin Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the BNB Stablecoin Pool. First, we have already proposed deprecating USDD, consistent with the recommendation outlined in this post. In addition, we recommend deprecating lisUSD, which has already been listed in the Core Pool and currently holds a relatively small position in the Stablecoin Pool, with less than $30K in supply and no growth observed over the past three months. Given that all relevant assets are either being deprecated or are better supported in other pools, we recommend deprecating the Stablecoin Pool in its entirety.

BNB Tron Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the BNB Tron Pool. First, we have already recommended deprecating USDD from this pool, consistent with the guidance outlined in this post. As for the remaining assets, WIN and BTT have shown no growth over the past 90 days. Both markets remain small in scale, with the WIN market holding only $7.32K in supply and zero borrowing activity, and BTT with just $13.6K supplied, indicating limited engagement and demand.

In addition, we recommend deprecating TRX from the Tron Pool, as it is already listed in the Core Pool with a significantly higher supplied value of $1.2M. Maintaining TRX in this isolated pool is redundant, as its main liquidity and usage have already migrated to the Core Pool. Given that all assets in the BNB Tron Pool are either inactive or better supported elsewhere, we recommend deprecating the pool in its entirety.

Ethereum

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 4.01M $4.01M 2.04M –17.32% +16.57%
USDC 2.43M $2.43M 930.07K –53.58% –19.27%
WETH 451.09 $882.99K 232.31 +3.85% –55.02%
WBTC 50.7 $5.06M 2.59 –29.49% –45.34%
TUSD 1.01M $1.01M 257.17K 0.00% 0.00%
BAL 3.87M $4.2M 60.21K +10.26% +158.00%
DAI 17.01K $17.01K 6.92K –28.31% –69.85%
EIGEN 977.41K $872.76K 2.02K +37.78% +15,413.65%
crvUSD 523.48 $523.5 80.5 0.00% –87.54%
sFRAX 21.16 $23.85 5.73 0.00% 0.00%
FRAX 42.6 $42.62 0.36 0.00% 0.00%
USDS 10.01K $10.02K <0.0001 0.00% 0.00%
LBTC 0.4 $40.54K 0 +233.33% +300.00%
eBTC 1.42 $142.67K 0 –1.39% +10.08%
yvUSDT-1 8.33K $8.65K 0 0.00% 0.00%
yvUSDS-1 9.74K $10.19K 0 0.00% 0.00%
yvWETH-1 3.93 $7.89K 0 0.00% 0.00%
weETHs 1.4K $2.8M 0 0.00% +100.00%
sUSDS 581.87K $611.36K 0 +5,718.70% +5,718.70%
yvUSDC-1 9.63K $10.21K 0 0.00% +1.05%

Liquid Staked ETH Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
WETH 4.57K $10.05M 2.98K –13.29% –29.15%
weETH 738.7 $1.73M 22.03 +0.09% –63.59%
pufETH 18.9 $43.47K 0.64 –81.48% +278.00%
sfrxETH 0.01 $49.27 0 0.00% 0.00%
wstETH 15.2 $40.2K 0 –11.88% –76.49%
ezETH 1.41 $3.25K 0 0.00% 0.00%
PT-weETH-26DEC2024 1.79 $3.95K 0 0.00% –82.78%
rsETH 2 $4.59K 0 0.00% 0.00%
weETHs 30 $67.67K 0 0.00% 0.00%

Curve Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
CRV 247.1 $187.87 13.04 0.00% 0.00%
crvUSD 30.15 $30.14 0.46 0.00% 0.00%

Ethena Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
sUSDe 10K $11.71K 0 0.00% 0.00%
PT-USDe-27MAR2025 10.61K $10.62K 0 0.00% 0.00%
USDC 10K $9.99K 0 0.00% 0.00%
PT-sUSDE-27MAR2025 10.65K $10.65K 0 0.00% 0.00%

Recommendation

Ethereum Core Pool

We recommend deprecating sFRAX, FRAX, yvUSDT-1, yvUSDS-1, yvWETH-1, and yvUSDC-1 from the Ethereum Core Pool.

Both sFRAX and FRAX have remained inactive, with no change in supply over the past one and three months, indicating a sustained lack of user engagement. In addition, sFRAX and FRAX are currently being sunset in light of the recently launched frxUSD, and Venus’ exposure to them remains extremely small in scale. The sFRAX market currently has only $23.85 supplied, with approximately 5 sFRAX borrowed. The FRAX market holds $42.62 in supplied assets, with just 0.36 FRAX borrowed. Given their negligible market sizes and complete stagnation, we recommend deprecating these assets to streamline the pool.

We also recommend deprecating yvUSDT-1, yvUSDS-1, yvWETH-1, and yvUSDC-1. These four assets have shown no change in supply over the past three months, indicating continued stagnation. Additionally, their combined TVL remains relatively small, with total supply across all four assets below $50Kβ€”representing only 0.21% of the pool’s total $24.08M market size. Given their inactivity and limited contribution, we recommend deprecation.

Ethereum Liquid Staked ETH Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating sfrxETH, and PT-weETH-26DEC2024 from the Ethereum Liquid Staked ETH Pool. PT-weETH-26DEC2024 has already reached its expiry date on Pendle, making it no longer relevant for continued support.

sfrxETH has remained inactive, with no change in supply compared to both one month and three months ago. In addition to its inactivity, the market is extremely small in size. sfrxETH currently has only $49.27 supplied with no borrowing. Given the lack of growth and minimal usage, we recommend deprecating all four of these markets.

Curve Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the Curve Isolated Pool, as both assets within the pool have remained inactive with no change in supply over the past three months. Additionally, the overall market size is extremely small, with only $218 worth of crvUSD and CRV supplied in total. Given the lack of activity and minimal usage, we recommend deprecation.

Ethena Isolated Pool

We recommend deprecating the Ethena Isolated Pool and listing sUSDe and USDe in the Ethereum Core Pool, as recommended in this post.

Arbitrum

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT0 1.86M $1.86M 1M +9.09% +9.09%
USDC 2.16M $2.16M 942.17K +22.03% +13.68%
WETH 425.66 $850.89K 268.38 +17.97% +6.71%
WBTC 42.97 $4.28M 1.19 –1.72% –17.24%
ARB 3.11M $1.03M 118.91K –2.51% –6.04%
gmBTC-USD 162.12K $385.09K 0 +51.61% +2,267.07%
gmETH-USD 183.27K $257.47K 0 +2,006.77% +549.86%

Liquid Staked ETH Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
WETH 1.09K $2.43M 751.2 +6.24% +52.34%
weETH 907.14 $2.14M 3.04 βˆ’4.01% +81.52%
wstETH 68.32 $182.07K <0.0001 0.00% +268.60%

Recommendation

Arbitrum Core Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the Arbitrum Core Pool at this time. Among the seven assets in the pool, four have reached a total supply value of over $1M and continue to exhibit strong market activity. The remaining three assets β€” WETH, gmBTC-USD, and gmETH-USD β€” have all shown growth in supply over both the past one and three months, indicating positive market behavior. Based on these observations, we see no need for any deprecation or adjustments within the Arbitrum Core Pool.

Arbitrum Liquid Staked ETH Isolated Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the Arbitrum Liquid Staked ETH Pool at this time, as all its assets demonstrate significant demand and usage.

ZkSync

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
wUSDM 881.84K $950.5K 934.48K 0.00% –56.56%
WETH 789.97 $1.74M 304.16 –16.57% –75.32%
USDT 897.02K $896.84K 561.11K +2.59% +42.35%
USDC.e 876.61K $876.62K 546.7K –15.82% –88.64%
USDC 278.37K $278.37K 102.74K –7.41% –98.75%
WBTC 15.04 $1.54M 0.85 –9.12% –83.30%
ZK 94.27M $6.91M 839.47K –8.92% –49.96%
wstETH 2.5 $6.64K 0.08 0.00% 0.00%
zkETH 3.86 $8.64K 0 –50.45% +3.49%

Recommendation

ZkSync Core Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the zkSync Core Pool. While the TVL of wstETH is minimal, with only $6.64K supplied, the asset does not present additional risks and reflects a unified strategy for LSTs across deployments.

Base

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
WETH 5.01 $12.09K 4.08 –30.12% –1.57%
cbBTC 0.08 $8.49K 0 –2.37% +47.95%
USDC 5.61K $5.61K 872.62 +3.14% –41.37%
wstETH 2.5 $7.25K 0 0.00% 0.00%
wsuperOETHb 7.87 $20.12K 0 –20.26% –19.94%

Recommendation

Base Core Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the zkSync Core Pool. While the TVL of wstETH is minimal, with only $7.25K supplied, the asset does not present additional risks and reflects a unified strategy for LSTs across deployments.

opBNB

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow 1-Month Supply % Change 3-Month Supply % Change
USDT 2.75K $2.75K 726.36 –7.22% +0.77%
FDUSD 1.97K $1.97K 432.74 –0.30% –61.23%
WBNB 7.53 $4.77K 0.2 –1.05% –73.40%
BTCB 0.04 $4.51K 0 +5.26% 0.00**%**
ETH 0.63 $1.51K 0.01 0.00% –10.00%

Recommendation

opBNB Core Pool

We recommend no changes to the opBNB Core Pool. While individual asset TVLs are minimal, the market remains useful for initial testing, as demonstrated by the recent Capped Oracle proposal.

Optimism

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow
USDT 6.08K $6.08K 1.73K
USDC 5.51K $5.51K 825.47
WETH 3.94 $9.24K 0.13
OP 12.76K $9.6K 19.33
WBTC 0.08 $7.91K <0.0001

Recommendation

Optimism Core Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the assets in the Optimism Core Pool. Although the TVL of each of the five listed assets remains relatively modest, all demonstrate a reasonable level of activity and engagement. Given the current state of the pool, each asset continues to serve a functional purpose, and no deprecation or adjustments are warranted at this time.

Unichain

Core Pool

Asset Total Supply Total Supply (USD) Total Borrow
WETH 2.91K $6.38M 2.91K
USDC 10M $10M 7.69M
UNI 800.48 $5.08K -

Recommendation

Unichain Core Pool

We do not recommend making any changes to the Unichain Core Pool at this time. Since its recent launch, Unichain has demonstrated strong user engagement, with WETH and USDC reaching significant TVL levels of approximately $6M and $10M respectively. UNI also continues to function as an active market within the pool.

Given the positive activity and healthy utilization, we see no need for deprecation or reconfiguration. We recommend continued monitoring to ensure sustained performance and growth over time.

Specification

Deprecation

Chaos Labs recommends the deprecation of the following markets:

BNB

  • BTC Pool
  • Stablecoin Pool
  • Tron Pool
  • Meme Pool
  • Liquid Staked ETH Pool
  • Defi Pool: USDD; ankrBNB; ALPACA;
  • GameFi: USDD
  • Liquid Staked BNB Pool: PT-clisBNB-24APR2025

Ethereum

  • Curve Isolated Pool
  • Ethena Isolated Pool
  • Liquid Staked ETH Pool: sfrxETH; PT-weETH-26DEC2024
  • Core Pool: sFRAX; FRAX; yvUSDT-1; yvUSDS-1; yvWETH-1; yvUSDC-1

Migration

Chaos Labs recommends the migration of the following assets:

Ethereum

  • sUSDe from the Ethena Pool to the Core Pool
  • USDe from the Ethena Pool to the Core Pool

Next Steps

Following the above analysis and its approval through governance, we propose the following deprecation plan:

  • Pause MINT - complementary to setting supply caps to 0
  • Pause BORROW - complementary to setting borrow caps to 0
  • Pause ENTER_MARKET - will not allow users to start using the paused assets as collateral. This update will not affect users who have already enabled the assets as collateral.
  • Set Collateral Factor to 0 in the markets in which it does not affect liquidations

Disclaimer

Chaos Labs has not been compensated by any third party for publishing this recommendation.

3 Likes

Fully support this deprecation plan. It’s time to gradually phase out underperforming assets and isolated pools that no longer bring any value. Let’s focus our efforts on high-demand, competitive tokens instead. Less is more β€” streamlining the protocol will strengthen Venus in the long run.

2 Likes

Cleaning up low-activity markets makes a lot of sense β€” better capital efficiency and less risk for everyone. Appreciate Chaos Labs and the Venus team for staying on top of things and keeping the protocol lean and focused. i support this suggestion

1 Like

I like the initiative to review the efficiency of markets. I agree that inefficient markets should be identified and eliminated and more attention should be paid to those assets that multiply the overall TVL of the protocol!

This is highly welcomed and supported. We should also be more strategic in listing assets and if we do in the future, we should have a good marketing plan in place as I believe that if we had promoted some of these assets now recommended for deprecation, they would have done better.