What is ZeroLend (ZERO)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & value proposition

ZeroLend positions itself as a risk-tolerant lending hub for underserved assets, offering:
- Liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) and real-world assets (RWAs) – Aims to unlock capital efficiency for volatile or illiquid holdings.
- Yield strategies – Aggressive (looping collateralized debt) and passive (native/Euler APY ~5.7%) options (ZeroLend).
- Crypto credit card – Allows spending crypto without selling, targeting everyday usability.

2. Tokenomics & governance

• Supply: 100B total, 54.87B circulating (54.8% of max) with deflationary buybacks from protocol revenue.
• Utility: Stakers earn revenue shares and partner airdrops, but top 10 holders control 90.97% of supply (CoinMarketCap), raising centralization concerns.
• Recent pressure: ZERO lost OKX and ONUS listings in May-June 2025, reducing liquidity access.

3. Ecosystem & adoption

• Partnerships: Integrated with Euler, RedStone, and TAC blockchain (RedStone), but TVL ($36.9M) and active addresses (~995k) lag behind top DeFi rivals.
• Delisting impact: OKX’s June 2025 removal of ZERO/USDT contributed to a -25.5% 24h price drop (as of 17 July 2025).

Conclusion

ZeroLend’s niche in high-risk asset lending and cross-chain integrations offers growth potential, but exchange delistings and concentrated token ownership pose near-term risks. Can protocol revenue and TAC’s Telegram-linked user base offset liquidity challenges post-delisting?