The total value locked (TVL) in the Decentralized Finance (Defi) has risen from $ 86 billion in April to more than $ 126 billion as of July 15 – an increase of more than 46% in just three months, according to Defillama.
Ethereum has included a TVL increase of 59% of $ 44 billion in April to just over $ 72 billion today. Solana also experienced a TVL increase of 50% from $ 6 billion to around $ 9 billion. As the top two ecosystems for Defi applications, Ethereum and Solana are often seen as leading indicators for overall defi activity.
“Recent Momentum in Defi was powered by highly performance L1 ecosystems such as Solana, which still continue to gain ground thanks to persistent developer activity, improved infrastructure and rising institutional investments,” Max Kaplan, CTO at SOL strategies, told the Defiant. “The chain also quickly switched from his memecoin-heavy start to a more credible basis for structured financing in chains, which strengthens the trust of investors in long-term viability.”
Kaplan added that the overall health of Solana-based assets has made the ecosystem more attractive for both retail and institutional allocers.
At the protocol level, the AAVE loan platform, currently the largest Defi protocol with more than $ 29 billion in TVL, has grown by 85% since April. Liquid strike Protocol Lido, second with $ 27 billion, has risen 80% in the same period. Owlayer, who focuses on repetition, is in third place with more than $ 14 billion in TVL, fed by the recent Rally of ETH.
Experts say that the sharp rise in Defi TVL signals renewed investor confidence, fed by return on chains, protocol growth and innovation and clearer regulations, especially after months of market insecurity after President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year.
Earlier this year, Defi TVL fell by around $ 50 billion descended from $ 138 billion in December 2024, the highest level since May 2022 to $ 88 billion in March 2025-somewhat much of the wins after the elections.
“The Defi TVL-Rebound reflects sidelined and retail capital that finally reverses in on-chain protocols as a return on the market,” said Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs. “I believe that a combination of tariff speculation -fatigue setting, improved infrastructure and regulatory clarity signals can set us up for another defi -summer.”
Chetty added that we not only see a bouncing, but witnessing the ‘ripening of Defi as a critical infrastructure’, and he expects that the momentum will continue by Q3.
The growth of Defi is also reflected in Top Defi-Tokens bound to important protocols, Jeff Feng, co-founder of SEI Labs, told The Defiant via e-mail. For example, the native token hype from Hyperliquid has risen more than 350%and climbs from $ 10 to $ 47 at the time of writing. The Uni from Uniswap has been won 70% since April and rose from $ 5.28 to $ 9. Meanwhile, Chainlink’s link has risen more than 50% since April and is currently being exchanged at around $ 15, according to Coingecko.
“As macro -economic conditions stabilize, capital starts to turn back in risk, and we see that reflected in TVL growth,” Feng said. He added that another important trend that drives this momentum is the increasing reliability and accessibility of stablecoins.
“Seamless, safe, stablecoin movement on chains is the unlock of new use cases and deeper liquidity between ecosystems,” Feng explained. “As a basis for many Defi applications, this evolution marks a crucial step in building a more integrated, capital-efficient economy on chains.”
The total market capitalization of Stablecoin, widely seen as a good proxy for Defi activity, has increased by around 10% since April, from $ 234 billion to more than $ 258 billion, according to Defillama. In the same time frame, American legislators continued with the Genius Act, which sets up a clearer regulatory framework for Stablecoins and the Clarity Act, which outlines laws for the wider crypto ecosystem.
“There are several factors that stimulate the growth of Defi TVL, with the most compelling policy developments, especially around Stablecoins,” said Chris Yin, CEO of Plume. “This has contributed to reducing uncertainty, which encourages both retail and institutional capital to flow to Defi protocols.”
Yin added that tokenized real-world assets (RWAS) are also at a record high on the total RWA on-chain value $ 25.5 billion, an increase of 27% since April, according to RWA.XYZ.
“Positive signals such as the Stablecoin Bill that registers in Hong Kong and Robinhood that announces Tokenized shares are indicators for the progress that is made to bridge the deficiency and traditional financing markets,” Yin said. “We are still in the early stages of these reconfirming developments, and this increase in interest reflects only a fraction of what is to come.”
