The DeFi market has rebounded at the start of July, with complete worth locked (TVL) rising to $116.416 billion, a stage final seen in April. The 24-hour enhance of 4.95% displays rising crypto asset costs and renewed deposit flows into lending protocols, restaking providers, and yield-bearing primitives.
As Ethereum and Solana proceed to soak up most DeFi capital, restaking-led protocols similar to EigenLayer and ether.fi have positioned themselves as structural pillars of on-chain liquidity.
On the prime of the DeFi leaderboard, AAVE has reasserted its place because the dominant cash market with $25.871 billion in locked worth throughout 18 chains. The platform’s 2.62% month-on-month enhance displays person desire for maturity, scale, and liquidity depth, particularly in periods of rising ETH borrowing prices. AAVE now holds over 22% of the TVL throughout DeFi, outpacing Lido and different restaking alternate options.
Lending has emerged as some of the secure classes inside DeFi, bolstered by protocols like Morpho, which posted a 25.35% month-to-month achieve. Morpho’s traction is intently tied to its hybrid peer-to-peer lending construction and elevated collateral caps, notably for stETH. Its fast ascent to $4.498 billion in TVL locations it simply exterior the highest 10 and firmly above legacy opponents like JustLend and Pendle.
In the meantime, Pendle, which permits tokenized fixed-yield methods, recorded a month-to-month enhance of 11.71% to $4.822 billion. The continued urge for food for principal-token and yield-token separation, particularly in a market with few new lending primitives, exhibits the persistent demand for yield certainty, even when period threat stays.
| # | Protocol | TVL | 1M Change | Mcap/TVL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AAVE | $25.871b | +2.62% | 0.16 |
| 2 | Lido | $23.614b | +0.80% | 0.03 |
| 3 | EigenLayer | $12.145b | +7.41% | 0.03 |
| 4 | Binance staked ETH | $7.186b | +14.16% | – |
| 5 | ether.fi | $6.72b | +0.11% | 0.06 |
| 6 | Spark | $6.353b | +5.30% | 0.01 |
| 7 | Ethena | $5.464b | −5.74% | 0.32 |
| 8 | Sky | $5.368b | +1.90% | 0.33 |
| 9 | Uniswap | $5.021b | +1.56% | 0.92 |
| 10 | Babylon Protocol | $4.879b | +0.32% | 0.02 |
| 11 | Pendle | $4.822b | +11.71% | 0.12 |
| 12 | Morpho | $4.498b | +25.35% | – |
| 13 | JustLend | $3.722b | +9.88% | 0.09 |
| 14 | Veda | $3.58b | +35.86% | – |
| 15 | BlackRock BUIDL | $2.832b | −2.32% | 1.01 |
The Ethereum-native restaking ecosystem stays one of many few areas in DeFi attracting recent capital. EigenLayer, with $12.145 billion in TVL, noticed a 7.41% enhance over the previous month regardless of winding down components of its factors program. That enhance exhibits its rising function as a collateral basis for actively validated providers (AVSs) and shared safety mechanisms.
One other participant within the restaking area of interest, ether.fi, maintained its place with $6.72 billion, although its 0.11% progress over the previous month indicators a plateau following the fast accumulation seen in Q2. Mixed, EigenLayer and ether.fi now management over $18.8 billion, accounting for greater than 16% of all DeFi capital, rivaling your entire TVL of Lido and Tron’s whole DeFi stack.
One notable outlier is Ethena, which noticed a 5.74% lower in TVL to $5.464 billion. The drawdown doubtless displays redemptions of sUSDe and waning short-term enthusiasm for artificial greenback yields after months of explosive progress. With Mcap/TVL now at 0.32, Ethena nonetheless holds a premium valuation, however the market seems to be biking some capital into extra sustainable yield venues.
The efficiency of BlackRock’s BUIDL token, whereas down 2.32% over the month, is an ideal instance of the function real-world property (RWAs) play in anchoring capital throughout unstable intervals. With a Mcap/TVL ratio of 1.01, the fund stays absolutely backed by tokenized Treasury payments and exhibits little deviation in both route. BUIDL’s $2.832 billion in TVL makes it the fifteenth-largest protocol in DeFi and the biggest tokenized RWA instrument thus far.
The marginal drawdown mirrors current weak point in Treasury costs, quite than protocol points. With yields climbing once more on the entrance finish of the curve, the query stays whether or not demand for tokenized RWAs can outpace capital rotation into higher-yield on-chain devices.
Final week confirmed the convergence of spot and perpetual DEX volumes, which landed at $13.653 billion and $13.084 billion, respectively. This parity is uncommon, as perpetual markets usually outpace spot by a large margin, and will point out a wholesome shift towards hedging exercise or natural demand for base-layer property.
In earlier intervals of market euphoria, perpetual volumes usually inflated disproportionately, pushed by leverage-fueled hypothesis. The present ratio suggests extra disciplined capital deployment, which may mirror the affect of bigger gamers and extra risk-aware methods dominating DEX exercise.
Ethereum continues to dominate DeFi TVL with $65.035 billion, representing over 55% of complete locked worth. Its 1-day (+6.42%) and 7-day (+6.21%) modifications present robust and constant inflows pushed by asset appreciation and deposit migration again to L1 vaults.
Solana now instructions $8.768 billion in DeFi TVL, a 5.67% 7-day enhance. The chain continues to learn from a resurgence in institutional and retail curiosity, doubtless supported by current spot SOL ETF approvals in Canada and rising NFT exercise. With a number of top-performing DEXs and yield farms, Solana has grown its share to 7.5%, the very best since Q1 2024.
Different networks, similar to Base (+5.40% each day) and Sui (+9.77% each day), posted sharp one-day features, hinting at new capital quite than simply worth results. Whereas these inflows are nonetheless modest in greenback phrases, they mark a directional sign that Layer-2s and alt-L1s are starting to claw again consideration, particularly as Ethereum charges stay elevated.
Stablecoins proceed to function DeFi’s latent gas. At $254.598 billion, the overall market cap of stablecoins is greater than double the worth locked in DeFi protocols. This 2.19x ratio suggests substantial dry powder ready for redeployment, particularly if charges stay engaging and new structured merchandise emerge. It additionally gives a buffer towards pressured liquidations within the occasion of sudden volatility, as extra capital is sitting idle in pegged property than in lively yield methods.
The primary week of July has painted an image of renewed energy for DeFi, particularly in core lending and restaking segments. With a stablecoin surplus, maturing yield primitives, and clear person rotation again into blue-chip protocols, DeFi seems to be getting into the second half of 2025 with stronger footing than at any level this 12 months.
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