DeFi Token YFI Rises Above $50K for the First Time Since February

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Yearn Finance's governance token YFI is trading above $50,000 for the first time in two months, driven by a planned buyback and an increase in the total value locked (TVL) in the protocol.

• The token has surged by 16% in the past 24 hours to trade near $51,250 – the level last seen on Feb. 12, according to data source Messari. Prices have risen by nearly 70% from $29,000 in the past three weeks.
• According to Alex Svanevik, the CEO of blockchain data company Nansen, yearn finance's buyback plan and the explosive growth of the total value locked into the protocol are powering YFI higher.
• "Yearn treasury will be conducting a Gnosis auction to purchase additional YF as part of our Buy Back and Build (BABY) YIP. We have earmarked 300,000 USDC for this auction to purchase YFI under $45,000," the protocol tweeted on Wednesday.
• The buyback and build proposal approved in January aims to bolster the project's treasury and generate value for all stakeholders.
• The total value locked (TVL) in the protocol has nearly doubled to a record $3.024 billion in the past four weeks, as per data provided by yearn.science.
• "Many people have not been aware of a sharp rise in the TVL because several websites incorrectly reported it not that long ago," Svanevik said. "The team has started reporting the TLV themselves, and it's about $3 billion now."