Shares of Circle Internet Group are earning their keep in decentralized finance. As of October 20, 2026, approximately $7.7 million in tokenized Circle stock had been deposited into DeFi protocols.
It is sitting in liquidity pools, backing loans and trading around the clock on Solana and Ethereum.
Where the CRCLx is parked
The token in question is CRCLx, issued by xStocks. Each token is backed 1:1 by real Circle shares held in custody.
Raydium is the largest single venue. Its concentrated liquidity market maker pools on Solana hold around $3 million in CRCLx.
A concentrated liquidity pool lets providers park their capital within a chosen price range instead of spreading it thin across every possible price. The result is deeper liquidity where trading actually happens, and potentially more fees for the people supplying it.
Uniswap comes in a close second. Its v3 and v4 pools on Ethereum hold approximately $2.9 million in CRCLx combined.
Kamino Lend, a lending protocol on Solana, has drawn about $908,000 in deposits. That means some holders are not just trading the token but using it to earn yield or borrow against it.
The remainder of the roughly $7.7 million is spread across other DeFi venues. The big three account for the bulk of it.
From $2.9 million to $7.7 million in two months
The growth curve is the real story. In mid-August 2026, the total amount of CRCLx deposited in DeFi stood at roughly $2.9 million.
By October 20, that figure had more than doubled. Uniswap’s pools alone now hold about as much CRCLx as all of DeFi did two months earlier.
Liquidity providers take on risks that a buy-and-hold investor does not. Lenders and borrowers accept protocol risk and the possibility of liquidation if prices swing hard.
How CRCLx got here
CRCLx launched in June 2025. It trades as an SPL token on Solana and as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum.
The token does not come with shareholder voting rights. Holders get economic exposure to Circle’s share price and not much else.
The research behind these figures points to non-US investors as a key audience, since tokenized versions of US-listed stocks give them a more flexible and tradable way to access those shares.
The DeFi figures are only a slice of the broader picture. Total tokenized exposure to Circle stock across numerous platforms is estimated at $314-$345 million, representing about 1.7% of Circle’s equity market capitalization.
Put differently, the $7.7 million sitting in DeFi protocols makes up under 3% of all tokenized Circle exposure.
What this means for tokenized equities
For DeFi protocols, tokenized stocks represent a new category of asset to compete over. Raydium and Kamino are emerging as important venues for liquidity and yield on tokenized equities, according to the research findings.
The Solana versus Ethereum split is also worth watching. Solana venues, Raydium and Kamino combined, currently hold more CRCLx than Uniswap on Ethereum.
Holders rely on the custodian actually holding the underlying shares. They also accept smart contract risk from the protocols they use, and they give up voting rights entirely.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.