Why Plasma Became Aave’s #2 Market So Fast
#Plasma didn’t scale by chasing TVL. It scaled by engineering credit efficiency.
1) Incentives that activated usage, not idle deposits
Plasma aligned rewards around borrowable liquidity. Capital didn’t just park — it moved. The result was immediate utilization and sustained borrowing, not mercenary TVL.
2) Tight risk calibration from day one
Before incentives went live, risk parameters, oracles, and liquidation thresholds were tuned for scale. This meant the market could absorb large inflows without rate instability or liquidity fragmentation.
3) Intentional asset curation
Only three borrowable assets were enabled. This concentrated liquidity where it mattered, creating deep markets instead of shallow sprawl. High utilization followed naturally.
The outcome:
• ~$6.6B peak TVL
• ~$1.6B+ active borrowing
• ~84% utilization on core assets
• $160 TVL per $1 of incentives in the first 8 weeks
@Plasma didn’t win by being louder. It won by being designed.
This is what credit-first DeFi looks like.
