What is the Context of Total Value Locked?

Total value locked is a key indicator frequently cited in news reports and analyses of the decentralized finance sector. Discussions often revolve around the growth trends of TVL across different DeFi protocols and ecosystems, as well as its correlation with token prices and overall market sentiment. Analysts are closely monitoring TVL as a proxy for the adoption and perceived value of decentralized financial services.

Total Value Locked

Definition

Total value locked (TVL) is a metric used in decentralized finance to measure the total amount of assets deposited and staked within a particular protocol or decentralized application. It represents the capital that is currently committed to smart contracts and is therefore “locked” and unavailable for immediate withdrawal. A higher TVL generally indicates greater user confidence and economic activity within a protocol.

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∞Decentralized Finance

∞Total Value Locked

∞Protocol Revenue

Base Layer Two Transactions Surpass Competitors Validating Scalable Ecosystem Growth

Base's transaction dominance and $4B TVL validate its high-throughput, low-cost architecture as the critical user acquisition funnel for application-layer dApps.

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∞CEX-Grade Performance

∞Layer Two Scaling

∞Decentralized Derivatives

Hyperliquid TVL Surges to $2.85 Billion Validating Decentralized Derivatives Model

Hyperliquid's 29% TVL surge to $2.85B validates the CEX-grade performance of its dedicated Layer 2, shifting the derivatives market on-chain.

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∞Financial Primitives

∞Decentralized Lending

∞Tokenized Assets

Aave Integrates Maple Yield-Bearing Stablecoins Unlocking Institutional Credit for DeFi

The Aave-Maple integration tokenizes institutional credit pools as collateral, structurally improving capital efficiency and deepening DeFi's institutional bridge.

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∞On-Chain Utility

∞Cross-Chain Settlement

∞Total Value Locked

Flare Launches FXRP Token Unlocking $86 Million XRP Capital for EVM DeFi

FXRP’s trustless wrapping mechanism unlocks dormant XRP capital, establishing Flare as the leading EVM layer for a new, high-value asset class.

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∞Ecosystem Growth

∞Layer One DeFi

∞Decentralized Finance

Sei V2 Launch and LST Integration Drives Total Value Locked to $200 Million

The integration of liquid staking and RWA primitives on Sei V2 establishes a critical capital efficiency layer, accelerating L1 DeFi adoption.

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∞Liquid Staking Derivatives

∞Institutional DeFi

∞Staked ETH Composability

Mantle mETH Protocol Secures $1.6 Billion Establishing Core Liquid Staking Primitive

Mantle's vertically integrated mETH LST unifies staked Ethereum liquidity, immediately establishing a core, institutional-grade collateral primitive for the L2 ecosystem.