DeFi TVL breaks above $116B as lending roars back

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The DeFi market has rebounded at the beginning of July, with total value locked (TVL) rising to $116.416 billion, a level last seen in April. The 24-hour increase of 4.95% reflects rising crypto asset prices and renewed deposit flows into lending protocols, restaking services, and yield-bearing primitives.

As Ethereum and Solana continue to absorb most DeFi capital, restaking-led protocols such as EigenLayer and ether.fi have positioned themselves as structural pillars of on-chain liquidity.

At the top of the DeFi leaderboard, AAVE has reasserted its position as the dominant money market with $25.871 billion in locked value across 18 chains. The platform’s 2.62% month-on-month increase reflects user preference for maturity, scale, and liquidity depth, especially during periods of rising ETH borrowing costs. AAVE now holds over 22% of the TVL across DeFi, outpacing Lido and other restaking alternatives.

Lending has emerged as one of the most stable categories within DeFi, bolstered by protocols like Morpho, which posted a 25.35% monthly gain. Morpho’s traction is closely tied to its hybrid peer-to-peer lending structure and increased collateral caps, particularly for stETH. Its rapid ascent to $4.498 billion in TVL places it just outside the top 10 and firmly above legacy competitors like JustLend and Pendle.

Meanwhile, Pendle, which enables tokenized fixed-yield strategies, recorded a monthly increase of 11.71% to $4.822 billion. The continued appetite for principal-token and yield-token separation, especially in a market with few new lending primitives, shows the persistent demand for yield certainty, even if duration risk remains.

The Ethereum-native restaking ecosystem remains one of the few areas in DeFi attracting fresh capital. EigenLayer, with $12.145 billion in TVL, saw a 7.41% increase over the past month despite winding down parts of its points program. That increase shows its growing role as a collateral foundation for actively validated services (AVSs) and shared security mechanisms.

Another player in the restaking niche, ether.fi,  maintained its position with $6.72 billion, though its 0.11% growth over the past month signals a plateau following the rapid accumulation seen in Q2. Combined, EigenLayer and ether.fi now control over $18.8 billion, accounting for more than 16% of all DeFi capital, rivaling the entire TVL of Lido and Tron’s entire DeFi stack.

One notable outlier is Ethena, which saw a 5.74% decrease in TVL to $5.464 billion. The drawdown likely reflects redemptions of sUSDe and waning short-term enthusiasm for synthetic dollar yields after months of explosive growth. With Mcap/TVL now at 0.32, Ethena still holds a premium valuation, but the market appears to be cycling some capital into more sustainable yield venues.

The performance of BlackRock’s BUIDL token, while down 2.32% over the month, is a perfect example of the role real-world assets (RWAs) play in anchoring capital during volatile periods. With a Mcap/TVL ratio of 1.01, the fund remains fully backed by tokenized Treasury bills and shows little deviation in either direction. BUIDL’s $2.832 billion in TVL makes it the fifteenth-largest protocol in DeFi and the largest tokenized RWA instrument to date.

The marginal drawdown mirrors recent weakness in Treasury prices, rather than protocol issues. With yields climbing again on the front end of the curve, the question remains whether demand for tokenized RWAs can outpace capital rotation into higher-yield on-chain instruments.

Last week showed the convergence of spot and perpetual DEX volumes, which landed at $13.653 billion and $13.084 billion, respectively. This parity is unusual, as perpetual markets typically outpace spot by a wide margin, and may indicate a healthy shift toward hedging activity or organic demand for base-layer assets.

In previous periods of market euphoria, perpetual volumes often inflated disproportionately, driven by leverage-fueled speculation. The current ratio suggests more disciplined capital deployment, which could reflect the influence of larger players and more risk-aware strategies dominating DEX activity.

Ethereum continues to dominate DeFi TVL with $65.035 billion, representing over 55% of total locked value. Its 1-day (+6.42%) and 7-day (+6.21%) changes show strong and consistent inflows driven by asset appreciation and deposit migration back to L1 vaults.

Solana now commands $8.768 billion in DeFi TVL, a 5.67% 7-day increase. The chain continues to benefit from a resurgence in institutional and retail interest, likely supported by recent spot SOL ETF approvals in Canada and growing NFT activity. With several top-performing DEXs and yield farms, Solana has grown its share to 7.5%, the highest since Q1 2024.

Other networks, such as Base (+5.40% daily) and Sui (+9.77% daily), posted sharp one-day gains, hinting at new capital rather than just price effects. While these inflows are still modest in dollar terms, they mark a directional signal that Layer-2s and alt-L1s are beginning to claw back attention, especially as Ethereum fees remain elevated.

Stablecoins continue to serve as DeFi’s latent fuel. At $254.598 billion, the total market cap of stablecoins is more than double the value locked in DeFi protocols. This 2.19x ratio suggests substantial dry powder waiting for redeployment, especially if rates remain attractive and new structured products emerge. It also provides a buffer against forced liquidations in the event of sudden volatility, as more capital is sitting idle in pegged assets than in active yield strategies.

The first week of July has painted a picture of renewed strength for DeFi, especially in core lending and restaking segments. With a stablecoin surplus, maturing yield primitives, and clear user rotation back into blue-chip protocols, DeFi appears to be entering the second half of 2025 with stronger footing than at any point this year.

The post DeFi TVL breaks above $116B as lending roars back appeared first on CryptoSlate.

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