The DeFi landscape has witnessed significant changes in recent years, as Ethereum (ETH) continues to lead in terms of nominal value locked, but now holds a smaller share of the overall DeFi market. Ethereum was joined by several other chains with successful financial apps, leading to a shift in the market dynamics.
At the end of 2023, Ethereum’s influence over the entire DeFi sector stood at 72.2%, with a total value locked (TVL) of $109 billion, reflecting the impact of the bear market. Over the past year, the TVL fluctuated between $125 billion and $275 billion, depending on reporting methodologies.
In 2024, DeFi welcomed new chains into the ecosystem, with BNB Chain maintaining a 4.5% market share and Solana experiencing slight growth to reach 6.7% market share. Solana’s success in the DeFi space was driven by its DEX activity and the creation of native liquid staking and re-staking mechanisms. Additionally, Bitcoin-based DeFi emerged as a significant player, locking up to 5.6% of the total value in the sector.
TRON also emerged as a major player in DeFi, capturing a 6% market share by the end of 2024. The chain’s growth was fueled by crypto-collateral lending and stablecoin liquidity. Meanwhile, minor chains saw a significant increase in their share of the DeFi market, accounting for an estimated 21.6% of all value locked.
Ethereum continued to dominate the DeFi space with over $70 billion in value locked, primarily due to its use as collateral. The platform’s high-value DeFi ecosystem is supported by apps that require large-scale collaterals or other forms of locking ETH. Aave emerged as the leading lending protocol in 2024, further solidifying Ethereum’s position in the DeFi market.
Overall, Ethereum-based DeFi remains a strong proposition, with expectations of an ETH rally to higher price ranges in the new year. The sector also benefitted from the influx of Tether (USDT) as an ERC-20 token, expanding the supply to meet liquidity demands. As the DeFi landscape continues to evolve, opportunities for growth and innovation are on the horizon for both established and emerging chains.
