DeFi Centralized Liquidity Underutilization Reaches 85% With $150M Annual Fee Losses

Dune analysis reveals 85% of centralized DeFi liquidity is idle, causing $150M in annual fee losses. Uniswap bears the largest share at $116M, highlighting significant structural inefficiencies.

Woofun AI data shows that approximately 85% of centralized liquidity in decentralized exchanges remains underutilized, resulting in an estimated $150 million in annual fee losses for providers. The study analyzed 26 weekly snapshots from January 6 to June 30 across Uniswap v3, Uniswap v4, PancakeSwap v3, and Aerodrome Slipstream, covering an average of $1.84 billion in weekly liquidity. Of this total, roughly $1.6 billion was inactive, with $542 million falling entirely outside the fee range; over one-third of this amount remained unchanged for more than 90 days.

Uniswap accounts for approximately $116 million of the lost fees, followed by PancakeSwap at $25 million and Aerodrome between $6 million and $12 million. Smaller positions exhibit higher idle rates, with those under $1,000 reaching 53%, while positions over $1 million have a 26% idle rate but constitute 47% of total idle funds. Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch, attributed these losses to structural inefficiencies and announced plans to launch a shared liquidity product named Aqua.