DeFi Tuna returns investment from Kelsier Ventures after LIBRA scandal

DeFi Tuna, a Solana-based DeFi protocol with concentrated liquidity, decided to return the funding of Kelsier Ventures after the recent LIBRA token rollout. Kelsier, which was discovered to be the main entity to spread LIBRA, was also a venture fund that supported three VC-backed crypto startups. 

The effects of the LIBRA meme token scandal are spreading into other projects in the Solana ecosystem. The DeFi Tuna project, a Solana-based protocol, announced it would return the funding from Kelsier Ventures, secured at the end of January. 

DeFi Tuna accepted only $30,000 from Kelsier, the VC fund backed by Hayden Mark Davis. The startup decided to return the share while retaining most of its recent fundraising round. 

DefiTuna accepted an investment from Kelsier with a size of $30,000 which put Kelsier as the 2nd smallest investor in DefiTuna back in January 16, 2025.

Upon finding out about Kelsier's activities we have refunded Kelsier and cut all ties.

— Dhirk 🦣 (@CavemanDhirk) February 17, 2025

The relatively small share is still an important gesture for DeFi Tuna, to reject the influence of Davis in the ecosystem. The announcement arrives after suspicions that Davis was also involved in other Solana projects, with signs of being linked to insider wallet creation and price manipulation. 

Davis has been met with mixed reactions among Solana traders. For some, he misunderstood the value of crypto and produced risky scams. For others, he is trying to be honest and salvage LIBRA with liquidity injections. The LIBRA token now attempts a recovery, as influencers start to re-enter the trade and potentially drive up hype again.

DeFi Tuna remains unaffected by Solana’s turbulence

The operations of DeFi Tuna have not been affected by the Solana turbulence or the meme market. The protocol, along with Kamino, is growing its influence. Lending protocols may be linked to the meme token market, though they can choose which tokens to accept as collateral. DeFi Tuna remains more conservative, while Kamino has accepted blue-chip memes.  

DeFi Tuna is a relatively small project, still retaining around $10M in total value locked. The project offers a relatively high APR for SOL staking in its lending pools. While risky, the DeFi project can still be controlled. DeFi Tuna has previously spoken against the trend of Solana ecosystem participants also trying out meme token rug pulls. 

Kelsier worked as a Tier-4 VC fund, adding small investments to crypto startups. The fund had average rounds under $1M and a loss of 33% on its investments as of February 2025. In addition to DeFi Tuna, Kelsier was one of the backers for the recent funding rounds of E Money Network and Saturn. Neither of the projects has remarked on Kelsier’s effect on the Solana market, as their focus is on other networks and activities. 

E Money Network is the only tradable protocol, launching the EMYC token at the end of January. EMYC lost 50% of its value from a peak of $0.15 down to $0.075, adding to the losses of Kelsier Ventures.

Solana ecosystem reconsiders the effect of LIBRA

The Solana ecosystem so far survived multiple token rug pulls, while the rest of the market was seemingly unaffected. However, the promotion of LIBRA by the President of Argentina Javier Milei started unraveling the meme hype. 

The token revealed aggressive sniping from insiders, once again mentioning the Jupiter DEX ecosystem as spreading early information about coins and tokens. Jupiter was transparent about its knowledge of an upcoming official token for Argentina. Previously, the founder of Jupiter @weremeow was found to be among the early snipers of meme token projects. He has yet to issue a more detailed statement on his personal involvement and exposure to LIBRA. 

DeFi Tuna called for involvement from both @weremeow and the founder of Meteora to clarify their involvement with the project. While the LIBRA project drained $100M from the Solana ecosystem, it had bigger repercussions. Following the recent exposure, SOL continued to slide, stopping at $178.54 with a bearish outlook.

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