DeFi TVL breaks above $116B as lending roars again

The DeFi market has rebounded at first of July, with whole worth locked (TVL) rising to $116.416 billion, a stage final seen in April. The 24-hour enhance of 4.95% displays rising crypto asset costs and renewed deposit flows into lending protocols, restaking companies, and yield-bearing primitives.

As Ethereum and Solana proceed to soak up most DeFi capital, restaking-led protocols similar to EigenLayer and ether.fi have positioned themselves as structural pillars of on-chain liquidity.

On the high of the DeFi leaderboard, AAVE has reasserted its place because the dominant cash market with $25.871 billion in locked worth throughout 18 chains. The platform’s 2.62% month-on-month enhance displays person choice for maturity, scale, and liquidity depth, particularly in periods of rising ETH borrowing prices. AAVE now holds over 22% of the TVL throughout DeFi, outpacing Lido and different restaking alternate options.

Lending has emerged as one of the vital steady classes inside DeFi, bolstered by protocols like Morpho, which posted a 25.35% month-to-month acquire. Morpho’s traction is intently tied to its hybrid peer-to-peer lending construction and elevated collateral caps, notably for stETH. Its speedy ascent to $4.498 billion in TVL locations it simply exterior the highest 10 and firmly above legacy rivals like JustLend and Pendle.

In the meantime, Pendle, which allows tokenized fixed-yield methods, recorded a month-to-month enhance of 11.71% to $4.822 billion. The continued urge for food for principal-token and yield-token separation, particularly in a market with few new lending primitives, exhibits the persistent demand for yield certainty, even when length threat stays.

The Ethereum-native restaking ecosystem stays one of many few areas in DeFi attracting contemporary capital. EigenLayer, with $12.145 billion in TVL, noticed a 7.41% enhance over the previous month regardless of winding down components of its factors program. That enhance exhibits its rising position as a collateral basis for actively validated companies (AVSs) and shared safety mechanisms.

One other participant within the restaking area of interest, ether.fi,  maintained its place with $6.72 billion, although its 0.11% development over the previous month alerts a plateau following the speedy accumulation seen in Q2. Mixed, EigenLayer and ether.fi now management over $18.8 billion, accounting for greater than 16% of all DeFi capital, rivaling the complete TVL of Lido and Tron’s complete DeFi stack.

One notable outlier is Ethena, which noticed a 5.74% lower in TVL to $5.464 billion. The drawdown doubtless displays redemptions of sUSDe and waning short-term enthusiasm for artificial greenback yields after months of explosive development. With Mcap/TVL now at 0.32, Ethena nonetheless holds a premium valuation, however the market seems to be biking some capital into extra sustainable yield venues.

The efficiency of BlackRock’s BUIDL token, whereas down 2.32% over the month, is an ideal instance of the position real-world belongings (RWAs) play in anchoring capital throughout risky durations. With a Mcap/TVL ratio of 1.01, the fund stays totally backed by tokenized Treasury payments and exhibits little deviation in both path. BUIDL’s $2.832 billion in TVL makes it the fifteenth-largest protocol in DeFi and the most important tokenized RWA instrument thus far.

The marginal drawdown mirrors current weak point in Treasury costs, quite than protocol points. With yields climbing once more on the entrance finish of the curve, the query stays whether or not demand for tokenized RWAs can outpace capital rotation into higher-yield on-chain devices.

Final week confirmed the convergence of spot and perpetual DEX volumes, which landed at $13.653 billion and $13.084 billion, respectively. This parity is uncommon, as perpetual markets usually outpace spot by a large margin, and will point out a wholesome shift towards hedging exercise or natural demand for base-layer belongings.

In earlier durations of market euphoria, perpetual volumes typically inflated disproportionately, pushed by leverage-fueled hypothesis. The present ratio suggests extra disciplined capital deployment, which may replicate the affect of bigger gamers and extra risk-aware methods dominating DEX exercise.

Ethereum continues to dominate DeFi TVL with $65.035 billion, representing over 55% of whole locked worth. Its 1-day (+6.42%) and 7-day (+6.21%) adjustments present robust and constant inflows pushed by asset appreciation and deposit migration again to L1 vaults.

Solana now instructions $8.768 billion in DeFi TVL, a 5.67% 7-day enhance. The chain continues to learn from a resurgence in institutional and retail curiosity, doubtless supported by current spot SOL ETF approvals in Canada and rising NFT exercise. With a number of top-performing DEXs and yield farms, Solana has grown its share to 7.5%, the best since Q1 2024.

Different networks, similar to Base (+5.40% day by day) and Sui (+9.77% day by day), posted sharp one-day positive aspects, hinting at new capital quite than simply value results. Whereas these inflows are nonetheless modest in greenback phrases, they mark a directional sign that Layer-2s and alt-L1s are starting to claw again consideration, particularly as Ethereum charges stay elevated.

Stablecoins proceed to function DeFi’s latent gasoline. At $254.598 billion, the whole market cap of stablecoins is greater than double the worth locked in DeFi protocols. This 2.19x ratio suggests substantial dry powder ready for redeployment, particularly if charges stay engaging and new structured merchandise emerge. It additionally gives a buffer in opposition to pressured liquidations within the occasion of sudden volatility, as extra capital is sitting idle in pegged belongings than in energetic yield methods.

The primary week of July has painted an image of renewed energy for DeFi, particularly in core lending and restaking segments. With a stablecoin surplus, maturing yield primitives, and clear person rotation again into blue-chip protocols, DeFi seems to be coming into the second half of 2025 with stronger footing than at any level this yr.

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