DeFi Giant Spark Shelves Crypto App Plans to Focus on Institutional Infrastructure

Web3 Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email DeFi Giant Spark Shelves Crypto App Plans to Focus on Institutional Infrastructure The protocol will instead focus on "liquidity infrastructure and deals" such as its recent $1 billion investment into PayPal's PYUSD. By Francisco Rodrigues | Edited by Nikhilesh De Nov 19, 2025, 9:34 p.m. (Sajad Nori/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : DeFi protocol Spark has paused plans to launch a mobile app, citing a focus on its core competency in DeFi-native crypto and a competitive market. The protocol will instead focus on "liquidity infrastructure and deals" such as its recent $1B investment into PayPal's PYUSD, targeting institutional use cases. The decision comes as another DeFi giant, Aave, has announced the launch of a retail yield app, with Spark's CEO expressing well-wishes but also highlighting the competitive nature of the market. Decentralized finance (DeFi) giant Spark has shelved its plans to launch a mobile app, for now. “We had an internal discussion and we’re going to put it on pause for now just because we view our edge as largely in the DeFi-native crypto space,” Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs, told CoinDesk in an interview during Devconnect Buenos Aires. “We are not builders of consumer apps, and this space is very competitive.” STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . Phoenix Labs is the company behind the development of the Spark protocol, which to date has amassed over $9 billion in total value locked, according to data from DeFiLlama . “If and when we do go in, we need to be certain we have some sort of edge there. I think there's a tendency for projects to get distracted doing too many things at once,” MacPherson said. “So we're going to just double down on what we do best, which is liquid infrastructure within DeFi." The protocol will instead focus on what MacPherson called “liquidity infrastructure and deals like our recent $1 billion investment with our own balance sheet into PYUSD with PayPal,” pointing to a focus on institutional use cases rather than the creation of more retail-friendly solutions. He was referencing a $1 billion investment intended to scale up PYUSD's liquidity. When asked whether the mobile app had been canceled or just delayed, MacPherson said it’s “paused for now. Things can change, but it's about the market; you've got to see opportunities, and it's just not there right now for us." MacPherson’s words come shortly after another DeFi giant, Aave, announced the launch of a retail yield app. “It’s an exciting development, but as I said, it's a competitive environment. I wish them the best of luck,” MacPherson said when asked about the launch. Spark protocol Exclusive More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You 1inch Unveils Protocol Letting Multiple DeFi Strategies Share the Same Capital By Francisco Rodrigues , AI Boost | Edited by Jamie Crawley Nov 17, 2025 Aqua introduces a "shared liquidity layer" that enables capital from a single wallet to back multiple trading strategies simultaneously. What to know : 1inch has unveiled Aqua, a new liquidity protocol that allows DeFi applications to share a single capital base across multiple strategies without compromising user custody. Aqua introduces a "shared liquidity layer" that enables capital from a single wallet to back multiple trading strategies simultaneously. The protocol allows liquidity providers to authorize their tokens for multiple strategies, operating with their own rules and access limits, and enables users to use their assets across multiple DeFi roles, such as providing liquidity, voting, or posting collateral. 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