The DeFi landscape has undergone significant changes since the early days of yield tourism. Users have evolved from chasing high APYs to becoming more deliberate and loyal to platforms that offer reliable interfaces, transparent risk parameters, and trust in governance.
SteadFi's recent experience with a failed $50 million liquidity raid by Apex Yield serves as a case study for this shift. Despite offering annualized yields north of 40%, the aggregator managed to pull less than 2% of SteadFi's total value locked away from the legacy protocol.
This outcome has sparked a community discussion about the effectiveness of vampire attacks in DeFi. Analysts are now questioning whether high APYs and liquidity incentives alone can attract users, or if protocols need to offer more substance to succeed.