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

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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.”

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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 protocolExclusive

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