The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has been experiencing a period of consolidation, with the total value locked (TVL) at $44.19 billion as of July 17, 2023. Throughout most of 2023, except for a brief seven-day period in April, the TVL in DeFi has consistently stayed below the $50 billion mark.

In the first half of 2023, the DeFi landscape has shown a somewhat subdued performance, with the value locked in the sector remaining relatively static. As of July 17, 2023, the TVL stands at $44.19 billion, according to metrics from defillama.com.

Lido Finance holds a significant portion of this total, securing $14.78 billion, which accounts for 33.45% of the overall TVL. Other key players in the DeFi space include Aave ($5.88B), Makerdao ($5.47B), Uniswap ($3.78B), and Justlend ($3.69B).

Except for a notable period from April 12th to the 19th, the TVL in the DeFi sector has consistently remained below the $50 billion range throughout the year. In June, the TVL hit its lowest point in 2023, standing at $40.9 billion. However, it has managed to stay above the $40 billion threshold this year.

Following a recent Ripple ruling, which led to significant gains in the cryptocurrency markets and smart contract tokens, the TVL in the DeFi sector approached the $46 billion mark. However, the leading smart contract token economy has since given up most of those gains, experiencing a 2.4% decline to reach approximately $351 billion in the past 24 hours.

Despite the overall market pullback, Solana (SOL) has managed to maintain a 21.5% increase against the U.S. dollar over the past seven days. Cardano (ADA) has also made significant progress, rising by 6.4% throughout the week.

Additionally, Polygon (MATIC) has bucked the broader crypto market downturn, surging by 3.7% in the same period. Amid the broader market fluctuations, Ethereum (ETH) experienced a minor setback of 0.5%, while Binance Coin (BNB) saw a decline of 1.4% over the course of this week.

Notably, out of the total value locked (TVL) recorded during this period, Ethereum-based DeFi protocols accounted for a substantial 58.47%, surpassing the $25 billion mark. Following Ethereum, Tron holds the second-largest blockchain in terms of TVLs, commanding 12.83% or $5.65 billion.