Total value locked in crypto reached an all-time high of over $375 billion in the first half of the year, driven by renewed liquidity from tokenized assets. Stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA) led the increase, with additional support from Ethereum-based protocols and other DeFi applications.
Stablecoins and lending protocols drive liquidity growth
Stablecoins remained the dominant source of locked liquidity, contributing significantly to the surge in total value. Tether and Circle continued to anchor the space, while Aave emerged as the leading lending protocol. EtherFi, Morpho, and Aave added notable momentum in recent weeks. The concentration of value remains high, with around $322 billion held by the top 10 projects. At the same time, the rest is distributed across utility hubs, Solana-based applications, decentralized exchanges, and smaller lending protocols.
Uniswap retained its position as the most prominent decentralized exchange in terms of value locked. Despite the rise, pure DeFi accounted for over $112 billion in total value locked, still trailing the 2021 peak. Slower growth in DeFi is linked to its evolving structure, with projects prioritizing stability and resistance to liquidations. The valuation of Ethereum is a key factor, as most collateral is based on ETH, whose price has remained near $2,500.
RWA tokenization expands as Ethereum leads chains
The narrative around real-world assets continued to gain traction, with tokenization protocols holding more than $12.7 billion in total value locked. Ethereum hosted the majority of these assets, accounting for $9.8 billion. BlackRock’s BUIDL initiative played a major role in tripling the value of tokenized bonds since mid-2024. Ondo Finance also grew its footprint, managing $1.39 billion in tokenized assets.
Private credit tokenization brought in $14.2 billion, followed by over $7 billion in tokenized US Treasuries. Despite strong growth, RWA integration into DeFi remains incomplete. Tokenized stocks also saw limited but steady inflows.
Ethereum maintains leadership in total locked value
Ethereum maintains its grip over the TVL division, retaining more than 238 billion in its ecosystem. Its share consists of re-staking, lending, and DEX applications, and a great part of the locked value is associated with staked ETH. Though Solana has a smaller TVL, it has exceeded the level of generating daily fees compared to the active applications.
The top five chains lock the greatest amount of value, yet an increasing number of L1 and L2 networks are seen to compete. The TVL represents Ethereum, closely related to its market price and long-term holders who sustain the environment by staking and lending.