PulseChain’s TVL Doubles in 7 Days; What is Up With the Ethereum Fork?

PulseChain, an Ethereum fork, has surpassed the Total Value Locked (TVL) of $403 million. The growth has positioned it as the 11th largest in terms of TVL, according to DefiLlama.

PulseChain houses 34 protocols and has seen a TVL increase of 110% over the past week.

PulseX is the largest protocol on PulseChain. It is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that contributes a TVL of $234.45 million to the chain. As an Ethereum competitor that was born to solve the scalability issue on the OG blockchain, it is still behind.

PulseChain is 0.71% of total TVL

In terms of total dollars locked, PulseChain accounts for only 0.71% of the market, while Ethereum dominates at over 57%.

However, its recent rise is noteworthy. This surge in TVL began post-January 8, when it was just over $128 million. At the same time, the approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF was just around the corner. The US SEC approved the much-awaited ETP on January 10, pushing liquidity into the market.

This contributed to the rise in the chain as well, with the TVL hitting $209 million by January 14 and soaring to $496.5 million by January 19. In the process, the conversation around Ethereum ETFs has also been adding optimism to the chain. In December, GoPulse said in a statement that it has unleashed interoperability by allowing trading between Pulse and Ethereum.

PulseChain launched in May last year and has been operational for eight months. Meanwhile, PulseX enables users to exchange tokens on the blockchain in a decentralized setup. It is somewhat akin to Uniswap on Ethereum.

PulseChain comes wrapped in controversies

Richard Heart, the founder of HEX and developer of PulseChain and PulseX, said in a recent post on X that there are benefits of integrating major stablecoins like $DAI, $USDC, and $USDT directly on PulseChain. According to him, this could enhance security and reduce costs.

 DeFi analyst @goldk3y_  underlined the growth of PulseChain, citing over 700,000 active wallets. He is betting on PulseChain’s growth, stating, “There is currently $112M bridged to PulseChain. Up +$42M in the past 7 days.”

He highlighted that PulseChain boasts 100% uptime, low transaction costs, a growing developer community, and over 52,000 validators, making it a strong competitor in the space.

The Pulse Wallet noted on Saturday that DAI is increasingly moving from Ethereum to PulseChain. It has reportedly surpassed its previous high, which was achieved in June 2023. Although confidence in the chain is on the rise, it’s not without setbacks.

In July last year, the SEC sued Heart for conducting an unregistered securities offering, targeting HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX.

Meanwhile, the founder also has a reputation for boosting his project with massive claims. He was pulled up by not only the regulators but also the community for misrepresentation and making potentially fraudulent claims.