Tokenized stocks on Base are driving new user onboarding to DeFi, with $9.57M in Mag 7 deposits to Aave, while Mastercard launches Agent Pay for AI-agent payments and Base infrastructure sees 86% cost savings vs traditional services.
DeFi & Yields ·
Tokenized stocks on the Base network are attracting new users into decentralized finance, with holders of Mag 7 equity tokens depositing $9.57M into Aave and borrowing $4.08M in USDC. Notably, 75% of these depositors were newcomers to the protocol, suggesting stocks may serve as a novel entry point rather than simply redistributing existing liquidity. Mastercard has also moved into this space, launching Agent Pay for Machines on Base in partnership with Cloudflare, a payment system allowing artificial intelligence agents to transact for digital services via the x402 standard.
Cost efficiency appears to be driving adoption. Research cited by Coinbase and The Block shows that transferring $200 in USDC on Base costs approximately 86% less than equivalent transactions on traditional payment rails. Meanwhile, liquidity infrastructure continues expanding: Morpho Midnight reached $100M in total deposits, Spark committed $400M USDC to the cbBTC/USDC market pair, and Aero launched as Aerodrome's unified liquidity layer.
The distinction here lies in user acquisition mechanics. Rather than cycling capital among existing participants, tokenized stocks appear to be bringing previously uninvolved individuals into DeFi protocols, though the sustainability and long-term retention of this inflow remain untested.