Total value locked in crypto rises to a record of $375B

Crypto liquidity returned in H1, rising to a new record on a mix of tokenized assets. Led by stablecoins and RWA, locked liquidity rose above $375B. 

The crypto market kept expanding its total value locked in H1, reaching a record above $375B. Based on Token Terminal data, all sectors are showing growth in locked collaterals, with stablecoins being the leading source of locked liquidity. 

The most recent weeks saw a boost coming from EtherFi, as well as Aave and Morpho. Outside those protocols, stablecoins kept adding liquidity. Most of the value in crypto is concentrated with 10 top projects, holding around $322M. The additional liquidity is spread to utility hubs and Solana apps, routers, lending protocols, and DEXs. 

Tether and Circle remain the biggest carriers of liquidity, followed by Aave, which emerged as the leading lending protocol. Uniswap remains the only DEX with a more significant share of value locked. 

Pure DeFi has a smaller share of value locked at over $112B, still under the all-time peak of 2021. However, DeFi protocols aim to be more robust and resistant to liquidations, hence the relatively slower growth. ETH prices are also a key to the valuation of DeFi, since most of the collaterals are linked to Ethereum. 

The RWA narrative remains strong as a source of liquidity, though RWA tokenization and its value are still not completely integrated with DeFi. RWA tokenization brought $14.2B from the private credit market, over $7B from US Treasuries, with smaller inflows from tokenized stocks. 

Based on DefiLlama data, tokenization protocols now carry over $12.7B in total value locked, of which around $9.8B are on the Ethereum chain. Tokenized bonds tripled in value since the summer of 2024, driven by BlackRock’s BUIDL. Ondo Finance is trying to catch up with $1.39B in tokenized assets. 

There is only a partial overlap between value locked and on-chain economic activity. The value locked does not always predict fees or activities. 

The ethos of holding for the long-term may be the main source of collateral protocols, where whales do not want to sell their ETH, but still aim for passive income or network security. Some of the value locked is linked to staked ETH, which once again moved close to record levels. 

For now, Ethereum locks over $238B in its apps and protocols, but the actual fees come from Tether’s smart contract and the Aave app. Conversely, Solana locks a lower total collateral value, but has higher daily fee production from some of its widely used apps. 

Top 5 crypto chains carry the most total value locked

Despite the proliferation of multiple L1 and L2 chains, as well as attempts to use DeFi on Bitcoin, Ethereum remains the leader in terms of TVL. 

The chain itself carries over $62B based on lending, re-staking and DEXs. The TVL hinges on a valuation of ETH around $2,500, with the potential to rise to previous records in case of an ETH bull rally. 

The Ethereum ecosystem also encourages whale holders, who have now taken profits and positioned for long-term ownership. ETH is also boosting the demand for DeFi lending, as well as general transactions.

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