Total Value Locked in DeFi Hits New ATH of $4B

The Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, industry continues its massive growth trajectory as the total value locked in the DeFi markets hits $4B, according to data from major industry website DefiPulse.com.

Total value locked in DeFi markets, August 1. Source: DefiPulse.com

DeFi markets refer to the use of blockchain, digital assets, and smart contracts in financial services like credit and lending to provide financial services without a need for a centralized authority.

The new threshold means that a total of over $4 billion is now locked across smart contracts, protocols, and decentralized applications, or DApps, built on Ethereum. As of press time, the largest DeFi provider, MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin, is responsible for just over 30% of DeFi markets, with $1.23 billion locked.

Top 10 DeFi markets, August 1. Source: DefiPulse.com

As reported by Cointelegraph, Ethereum has rallied recently both in anticipation of Ethereum 2.0, and due to the optimism surrounding DeFi.

As of press time, Ether trades at around $356, up more than 7% over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coin360. As previously reported, DeFi applications have some correlation to the Ether price, but are not entirely dependent on it.

Earlier this week, crypto market analytics firm Messari reported that the total capitalization of the DeFi sector is equal to only 1.5% of the entire crypto capitalization. This now accounts for about $332 billion.