TVL versus token market cap
A protocol's TVL is not the same as the market cap of its governance token. TVL measures usage and deposited assets, while token market cap measures the market value of the protocol's tradable token.
Top DeFi Protocols by TVL
A live DeFi protocols list ranked by Total Value Locked (TVL), with Lido, Aave, EigenLayer, Uniswap, and more. Updated via DefiLlama.
Total Market Cap:$516.108B
Assets:525
| # | Name | Price | Market Cap | 24h % | 7d % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1460 | T RIZE RIZE | — | $23.000M | +0.00% | +0.00% | |
| 1466 | Paradex Bridge DIME | — | $22.540M | +1.24% | +0.00% | |
| 1472 | BULK - | — | $22.272M | -0.87% | -14.32% | |
| 1473 | Chain Fusion - | — | $22.191M | +5.06% | +9.86% | |
| 1474 | Velodrome V3 VELO | — | $22.146M | -2.56% | -0.93% | |
| 1478 | Aerodrome Ignition AERO | — | $21.939M | +1.04% | +0.00% | |
| 1479 | Okcoin - | — | $21.744M | +0.12% | +0.00% | |
| 1482 | Clearpool TPOOL CPOOL | — | $21.728M | +0.00% | +0.00% | |
| 1485 | AFX LP - | — | $21.644M | -4.13% | +0.00% | |
| 1486 | cSigma Finance SIGMA | — | $21.601M | +0.00% | +0.00% | |
| 1487 | GLIF GLF | — | $21.579M | -0.77% | +0.00% | |
| 1490 | XION Finance - | — | $21.489M | -0.18% | -0.66% | |
| 1493 | Anthias Labs - | — | $21.361M | -2.45% | +0.00% | |
| 1494 | Meteora DAMM V2 MET | — | $21.352M | +0.96% | +1.81% | |
| 1495 | Moonwell Vaults WELL | — | $21.342M | +1.68% | +0.00% | |
| 1496 | Folks Finance Lending FOLKS | — | $21.279M | -1.64% | +0.00% | |
| 1497 | BitVenus - | — | $21.274M | -6.83% | +1.52% | |
| 1499 | Block Analitica - | — | $21.210M | +4.16% | +0.00% | |
| 1502 | WEMIX.FI Staking - | — | $21.109M | -1.03% | +0.00% | |
| 1505 | Kodiak Islands KDK | — | $20.992M | -0.08% | -2.03% | |
| 1506 | XSY UTY | — | $20.979M | +0.00% | +0.00% | |
| 1507 | Infrared Finance IR | — | $20.938M | +5.60% | +0.00% | |
| 1512 | Arcus Perps - | — | $20.740M | +0.67% | +3.00% | |
| 1516 | YieldNest YND | — | $20.713M | +0.02% | +0.11% | |
| 1517 | Vesta Equity - | — | $20.634M | — | +0.00% |
How to read the DeFi TVL ranking
This DeFi list ranks protocols by total value locked, or TVL. TVL estimates the value of crypto assets deposited into smart contracts for lending, trading, staking, liquidity, or other on-chain financial activity.
How to use this ranking
Use the table to compare protocol scale across liquid staking, lending, decentralized exchanges, bridges, and yield platforms. Large TVL can indicate adoption, but it does not remove smart contract, oracle, liquidity, or governance risk.
Related rankings
DeFi rankings use DefiLlama-based TVL data from scheduled syncs. Protocol definitions, chain coverage, and token prices can change as source data updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is DeFi and how does it differ from traditional finance?
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DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, refers to financial services and applications built on public blockchains — primarily Ethereum — that operate without central intermediaries like banks or brokers. Users interact directly with smart contracts to lend, borrow, trade, and earn yield. Because DeFi protocols are open and permissionless, anyone with a crypto wallet can access them without identity verification or credit checks.
What does Total Value Locked (TVL) mean?
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Total Value Locked (TVL) is the total value of crypto assets deposited into a DeFi protocol's smart contracts at any given time. It includes assets used as collateral, liquidity, or staked for rewards. TVL is the primary metric used to measure the size and adoption of DeFi protocols — similar to assets under management (AUM) in traditional finance. Higher TVL generally indicates more user trust and protocol usage.
How is TVL different from market cap for DeFi protocols?
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TVL measures the value of assets deposited into a protocol, while market cap measures the value of the protocol's own native token. A protocol can have a very high TVL but a small token market cap, or vice versa. The ratio of TVL to market cap (sometimes called the P/TVL ratio) is used by analysts to evaluate whether a DeFi token may be overvalued or undervalued relative to its actual usage.
What are the risks of using DeFi protocols?
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DeFi carries several risks not present in traditional finance, including smart contract vulnerabilities (bugs that can be exploited by hackers), liquidation risk (collateral can be automatically sold if its value drops), oracle manipulation (price feed attacks), and regulatory uncertainty. Users are also fully responsible for their own private keys — there is no customer support or account recovery if funds are lost.
Which DeFi categories are represented in these rankings?
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The DeFi protocols ranked here include decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap, lending protocols like Aave and Compound, liquid staking platforms like Lido, yield aggregators, and cross-chain bridges. TVL data is sourced from DefiLlama, which aggregates on-chain data across dozens of blockchains and hundreds of protocols.