Top 8 DeFi Categories by TVL: Liquid Staking Takes the Lead

Top 8 DeFi Categories by TVL: Liquid Staking Takes the Lead

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by Max Nevskyi

3 years ago


According to the most recent data provided by the analytics platform CryptoRank, it has been revealed that liquid staking currently holds the leading position among decentralized finance (DeFi) categories in terms of total value locked (TVL).

On October 5th, CryptoRank and DeFi TVL aggregator DeFiLlama jointly provided an overview of the DeFi landscape, highlighting the leading eight DeFi categories based on Total Value Locked (TVL).

According to their data, liquid staking emerges as the dominant DeFi category, boasting a substantial $20 billion in TVL. The top five categories, in descending order, included liquid staking, lending and borrowing protocols, decentralized exchanges (DEX), bridge protocols, and collateralized debt positions (CDP).

Liquid staking secured the top spot with a formidable TVL of $20 billion, followed closely by lending and borrowing protocols, which accounted for $14.8 billion in TVL. The third position was occupied by DEX, with an impressive TVL of $11.6 billion. Following closely behind were bridge protocols and CDP, registering TVLs of $9.1 billion and $7.8 billion, respectively.

Rounding out the list of the top DeFi categories by TVL were service, yield farming, and real-world assets. The service category stood at number six with a TVL of $4.2 billion, followed by yield farming with a TVL of $3.4 billion. Notably, the real-world assets category, described as the emerging DeFi trend by CryptoRank, exhibited a remarkable 84.6% increase over the past thirty days, reaching a TVL of $2.4 billion.

Regarding blockchain dominance, the data revealed a significant concentration of TVL in DeFi on the Ethereum blockchain. The top three chains in this regard were Ethereum, Tron, and BNB Chain.

Ethereum led the pack with an impressive TVL of $55 billion, constituting 67.3% of the TVL within the DeFi landscape. Ethereum's dominance was substantial, with the second-ranked chain trailing significantly at $6.9 billion.

In third place was BNB Chain, boasting a TVL of $4.6 billion and a 5.6% share. Following closely were Arbitrum and Avalanche, with TVLs of $2.8 billion and $1.54 billion, respectively. Ton accounted for 1.74% of the DeFi TVL with $1.42 billion, while Polygon had a TVL of $1.16 billion. The final two chains on the list were Solana and Optimism, registering TVLs of $1.37 billion and $902 million, respectively.

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