The DeFi protocols that form crypto's financial infrastructure today — Uniswap, Aave, Compound, MakerDAO, Curve — all began as early-stage projects that went through some form of fundraising or token distribution before achieving their current scale. Understanding how these protocols launched, how their founders raised capital, and how they distributed governance tokens provides the clearest possible benchmark for evaluating new DeFi presales today.
MakerDAO: The OG (2017)
MakerDAO is the oldest continuously operating DeFi protocol. Rune Christensen founded the Maker Foundation in 2014, with the Dai stablecoin system launching in December 2017. Early fundraising included a 2017 token sale raising approximately $12 million from venture investors including a16z Crypto and Polychain Capital, with MKR tokens distributed to investors and founders. MakerDAO pioneered: over-collateralised borrowing, algorithmic stablecoin issuance, and decentralised governance — all foundational DeFi primitives.
Compound Finance: The COMP Governance Token (2020)
Compound was founded by Robert Leshner in 2017 and raised approximately $8.3 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures. The protocol launched mainnet in 2019. The transformative moment: June 15, 2020 — the COMP governance token was launched via liquidity mining distribution. Users who supplied or borrowed from Compound automatically earned COMP tokens. This COMP farming incentive attracted billions in liquidity and triggered "DeFi Summer 2020" — with TVL across all DeFi protocols exploding from ~$1B to $15B in three months. COMP became the template for governance token distribution via protocol participation.
Uniswap: The V1 Launch and UNI Airdrop
Hayden Adams built Uniswap V1 with an Ethereum Foundation grant ($100,000 development grant, not a fundraising round) in 2018, launching in November 2018. Uniswap raised $1 million in seed funding from Paradigm in 2019. The UNI governance token was not launched until September 2020 — retroactively airdropping 400 UNI tokens (worth ~$1,200 at launch, later worth $16,000+ at peak) to every wallet that had ever used Uniswap. The retroactive airdrop model — rewarding past users without requiring forward-looking "investment" — became one of crypto's most influential token distribution innovations.
Aave: From ETHLend to DeFi Blue Chip
Aave began as ETHLend — a peer-to-peer crypto lending protocol founded by Stani Kulechov, which raised $16.2 million in an ICO in 2017 (LEND tokens). ETHLend pivoted to Aave's pool-based lending model in 2020, migrating from LEND to AAVE tokens in a 100:1 swap. Aave's protocol-controlled liquidity model, flash loans (uncollateralised single-transaction loans), and safety module staking created genuinely novel DeFi primitives. AAVE token migrated from the pre-launch LEND ICO in an orderly conversion.
Curve Finance: Vote-Locked Tokenomics (2020)
Curve Finance launched in January 2020 specifically for stablecoin-optimised AMM trading. Michael Egorov founded and self-funded initial development. The CRV governance token launched in August 2020 with a controversial anonymous launch (no official announcement). Curve introduced vote-locking (veCRV) — users lock CRV for up to 4 years to receive voting power over liquidity incentives. This "Curve Wars" model (protocols competing to acquire veCRV for directing liquidity) became a major DeFi governance narrative.
For how these DeFi ecosystem foundations affect presale evaluation today, see our Ethereum presale ecosystem guide. For understanding yield farming mechanics introduced by Compound and Curve, see our yield farming guide. For how DEXs like Uniswap work for presale token TGE listing, see our DEX guide.
Glossary
- DeFi Summer
- The Q2-Q3 2020 period when Compound's COMP liquidity mining launch triggered explosive growth across all DeFi protocols — TVL rising from ~$1B to $15B in three months.
- Retroactive Airdrop
- Distributing tokens to historical users based on past behaviour rather than requiring forward purchase — Uniswap's UNI airdrop to past users popularised this model.
- veCRV (Vote-Escrowed CRV)
- Curve's vote-locked governance token — users lock CRV for up to 4 years to receive proportional voting power over liquidity incentive distributions.
- Flash Loan
- Aave's innovation — uncollateralised loans that must be borrowed and repaid within a single transaction block, enabling arbitrage and liquidation strategies without capital requirements.
Disclaimer
Important: DeFi protocol launch histories show extraordinary returns that are not representative of average outcomes. This article is historical and educational only. CryptoPresaleNews.com is not a licensed financial advisor.
