The total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi News) has once again surpassed the $100 billion mark, currently stabilizing at $100.89 billion. Previously, due to a general market downturn from late January to February, the TVL had fallen below this critical level. This rebound signifies that the industry is gradually regaining stability.
Historically, DeFi News TVL approached a peak of nearly $175 billion during the bull market cycle of 2022. However, with the arrival of the bear market in 2023, the TVL saw a significant decline. The recovery trend that began in 2024 pushed the TVL above $120 billion by mid-2025, but it subsequently experienced another drop. The current level, slightly above $100 billion, indicates that this area has become a key support level that is being tested but has thus far held firm.
Key Protocols Supporting TVL
The current growth in TVL is primarily driven by three major protocols. Leading the liquid staking sector, Lido contributes approximately $27.5 billion, making it the largest single contributor to DeFi News's total locked value. The leading decentralized lending protocol Aave accounts for about $27 billion. Meanwhile, the rapidly growing re-staking protocol EigenLayer has contributed around $13 billion. Together, these three protocols represent nearly two-thirds of the TVL, highlighting the high concentration of DeFi News value within a few top platforms.
In addition to the recovery of TVL, data from DefiLlama also shows increased activity across the broader DeFi News ecosystem. The total market capitalization of stablecoins in the DeFi News space has reached $316.5 billion, with decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume at $8.87 billion over the past 24 hours, and perpetual contract trading volume at $28.4 billion. These figures indicate that funds are not only locked in protocols but are also actively flowing within the DeFi News ecosystem.
Factors Driving the Recovery
Analysts point out that the recovery of TVL is the result of multiple factors working in concert. Currently, asset strategies offering yields have significantly expanded, with many platforms emerging that aggregate “stable yield” methods, allowing users to stack yields across multiple DeFi News layers simultaneously. Additionally, institutional funds are flowing more cautiously into the smart contract ecosystem, primarily driven by practical needs such as staking and liquid staking rewards, rather than pure speculation.
The Mantle Network has recently stood out, with its DeFi News TVL surpassing $1 billion and stablecoin market capitalization nearing $980 million. This week, Ethereum-based smart contract activity also reached historical highs in daily active addresses and contract calls, providing the underlying network support for fee generation and user participation that DeFi News protocols rely on.
Moody's Token Integration Engine, launched on March 18, brings institutional-grade infrastructure support to DeFi News, which could have significant implications for the future development of the sector. This product introduces real-time credit ratings on-chain, addressing one of the structural barriers that hinder large-scale capital allocation to tokenized DeFi News strategies, particularly for institutions with stringent risk management framework requirements.