Why $1.6 billion in idle crypto liquidity is a growing risk

About $1.6 billion in liquidity deposited across major decentralized exchanges sat idle during the first half of 2026, a Dune study commissioned by 1inch found. The figure represents 85% of the $1.84 billion tracked across concentrated liquidity pools on Uniswap and PancakeSwap, as well as Aerodrome's Slipstream. Roughly $542 million, or 29.5%, sat fully out of range in an average week.

Concentrated liquidity pools let providers place assets within a chosen price range. The capital supports trading and collects fees while the market stays inside that band. Once the price moves beyond it, the position stops earning until the provider adjusts the range or the market returns. A position in an Ethereum (ETH) / USDC pool set between $2,000 and $2,500 stops working if ETH trades outside that band.

Dune tracked Uniswap v3 and v4, PancakeSwap v3 and Aerodrome Slipstream across seven chains using weekly snapshots from Jan. 6 to June 30. The out-of-range share stayed mostly between 25% and 35%, rising to nearly 41% in early February. The study linked idle liquidity more closely to directional price moves than to volatility. A steady price move in one direction strands more capital than a volatile week that ends near its starting point. Bitcoin hovered near $90,000 in January before falling to around $60,000.

Smaller positions are more likely to sit idle. Around 54% of liquidity in positions below $1,000 was out of range, compared with 26% for positions above $1 million. Positions worth more than $1 million accounted for 47% of all idle capital, or roughly $260 million. Individual wallets accounted for between 82% and 94% of the attributed idle capital on Uniswap v3, depending on the chain. Contract-managed positions stayed within a more consistent range.