DeFi records renewed momentum as investors vie for on-chain yield and protocol innovation accelerates.
Total value locked (TVL) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has surged from $86 billion in April to over $126 billion as of July 15 – a more than 46% increase in just three months, according to DeFiLlama.
Ethereum recorded a TVL increase of 59% from $44 billion in April to just over $72 billion today. Solana also experienced a TVL increase of 50% from $6 billion to roughly $9 billion. As the top two ecosystems for DeFi applications, Ethereum and Solana are often viewed as leading indicators of overall DeFi activity.
“Recent momentum in DeFi has been driven by highly-performant L1 ecosystems like Solana, which continues to gain ground thanks to sustained developer activity, improved infrastructure, and rising institutional investment,” Max Kaplan, CTO at SOL Strategies, told The Defiant. “The chain has also rapidly transitioned away from its memecoin-heavy beginnings to a more credible foundation for on-chain structured finance, strengthening investor confidence in its long-term viability.”
Kaplan added that the overall health of Solana-based assets has made the ecosystem more attractive to both retail and institutional allocators.
At the protocol level, lending platform Aave, currently the largest DeFi protocol with over $29 billion in TVL, has grown 85% since April. Liquid staking protocol Lido, ranking second with $27 billion, is up 80% over the same period. EigenLayer, which focuses on restaking, ranks third with more than $14 billion in TVL, fueled by ETH’s recent rally.
Experts say the sharp rise in DeFi TVL signals renewed investor confidence, fueled by on-chain yield opportunities, protocol growth and innovation, and clearer regulations – especially after months of market uncertainty following President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year.
Earlier this year, DeFi TVL fell by roughly $50 billion – dropping from $138 billion in December 2024, the highest level since May 2022, to $88 billion in March 2025 – erasing much of the post-election gains.
“The DeFi TVL rebound reflects sidelined institutional and retail capital finally rotating back into on-chain protocols as market confidence returns,” said Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs. “I believe a combination of tariff speculation fatigue setting in, improved infrastructure, and regulatory clarity signals could be setting us up for another DeFi summer.”
Chetty added that we’re not just seeing a bounce, but witnessing the “maturation of DeFi as critical infrastructure,” and he expects this momentum to continue through Q3.
DeFi’s growth is also reflected in top DeFi tokens tied to major protocols, Jeff Feng, co-founder of Sei Labs, told The Defiant over email. HyperLiquid’s native token HYPE, for example, has surged over 350%, climbing from $10 to $47 at the time of writing. Uniswap’s UNI has gained 70% since April, rising from $5.28 to $9. Meanwhile, Chainlink’s LINK is up more than 50% since April and is currently trading at around $15, according to CoinGecko.
“As macroeconomic conditions stabilize, capital is beginning to rotate back into risk, and we’re seeing that reflected in TVL growth,” said Feng. He added that another key trend driving this momentum is the increasing reliability and accessibility of stablecoins.
“Seamless, secure, stablecoin movement across chains is unlocking new use cases and deeper liquidity across ecosystems,” Feng explained. “As the foundation for many DeFi applications, this evolution marks a critical step in building a more integrated, capital-efficient on-chain economy.”
The total stablecoin market cap, widely viewed as a good proxy for DeFi activity, has increased by around 10% since April, from $234 billion to above $258 billion, according to DeFiLlama. In the same timeframe, U.S. legislators moved forward with the GENIUS Act, which establishes a clearer regulatory framework for stablecoins, and the CLARITY Act, which outlines laws for the broader crypto ecosystem.
“There are multiple factors driving DeFi TVL growth, with the most compelling being policy developments, especially around stablecoins,” said Chris Yin, CEO of Plume. “This has helped reduce uncertainty, encouraging both retail and institutional capital to flow to DeFi protocols.”
Yin added that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are also at an all-time high – currently, the total RWA on-chain value stands at $25.5 billion, up 27% since April, according to RWA.xyz.
“Positive signals like the stablecoin bill passing in Hong Kong and Robinhood announcing tokenized stocks are indicators of the progress being made to bridge the DeFi and traditional finance markets,” Yin said. “We’re still in the early stages of these reaffirming developments, and this surge in interest only reflects a fraction of what’s to come.”
