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$1.6 billion in DeFi liquidity sat idle in H1 2026, data shows
About $542 million per week was outside active trading ranges, and Dune estimates out-of-range positions miss roughly $150 million in annual fees.
CoinDesk reports that research by Dune, commissioned by decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch, found about $1.6 billion in DeFi liquidity was underutilized during the first half of 2026, failing to generate returns.
The data focused on concentrated liquidity pools on major venues including Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and Aerodrome, where liquidity earns fees only when the market price stays within a provider set range.
Across weekly snapshots from Jan. 6 through June 30, roughly $542 million, or 29.5%, sat fully out of range in an average week, meaning the capital did not earn fees and did not add market depth.
CoinDesk also notes that Dune tracked the out-of-range behavior across Uniswap v3 and v4, PancakeSwap v3, and Aerodrome Slipstream across seven chains, and 1inch argued the cost of idle liquidity will rise as markets grow and liquidity becomes thinner, leaving more trading fees unearned.