Ethereum loses 10% of its DeFi market share as rival chains close in
Ethereum’s share of the overall worth locked (TVL) in DeFi compressed from 63.5% in the beginning of 2025 to round 54% as of May 7, hovering close to the bottom stage recorded since May 2025.
DefiLlama places Ethereum’s present TVL at $45.4 billion, whereas the chains absorbing share have every staked out a definite perform, such as decentralized alternate (DEX) move, stablecoin settlement, BTC collateral, client onboarding, and perpetuals buying and selling.
Solana holds 6.66% of DeFi TVL, BNB Chain 6.60%, Bitcoin 6.35%, Tron 6.17%, Base 5.44%, and Hyperliquid 1.81%. That clustering defines that DeFi has moved from a single Ethereum-centered hub right into a community of specialised rails.
Which chains captured market
BSC constructed its place on Binance-linked distribution. In the second quarter of 2025, CoinGecko reported that PancakeSwap quantity surged 539.2% quarter-over-quarter to $392.6 billion, accounting for 45% of top-10 DEX quantity, with Binance Alpha routing trades immediately via PancakeSwap.
DefiLlama at present reveals BSC with $5.55 billion in TVL and $739.6 million in 24-hour DEX quantity. Binance has deepened that integration through Alpha Earn, which lets customers present liquidity to PancakeSwap V3 immediately from Binance Wallet, and Alpha 2.0 embeds DEX buying and selling contained in the Binance Exchange interface.
Binance controls the entrance finish, PancakeSwap executes the commerce, and BSC collects the quantity.
Tron operates on a distinct axis. DefiLlama reveals $89.6 billion in stablecoins on Tron, with USDT accounting for 97.86% of that determine, whereas 24-hour DEX quantity stands at solely $55.5 million.
Tron’s DeFi TVL of $5.19 billion understates its function as the chain with the biggest stablecoin flows in crypto, working as a dollar-settlement rail with skinny app range and large throughput.
Bitcoin’s DeFi TVL reached $5.34 billion, with 6.35% dominance, up 13.4% over 30 days, regardless of a 24-hour DEX quantity of simply $338,516. The distinction defines the BTCFi thesis is capital migrating onto Bitcoin to generate yield and collateralize.
Bitcoin’s DeFi function is rising as a productiveness layer, one the place capital earns via collateral and lending protocols.
Base is probably the most consequential half of the aggressive map as a result of it operates contained in the Ethereum stack whereas eroding Ethereum L1’s headline share. Coinbase constructed Base as an Ethereum layer-2 (L2) on the OP Stack, and the distribution benefit is that Base App operates in greater than 140 international locations.
DefiLlama reveals $4.58 billion in Base TVL, $4.93 billion in stablecoins, and $854.97 million in 24-hour DEX quantity.
Activity that migrates from Ethereum L1 via Base continues to settle throughout the Ethereum safety mannequin. Coinbase has packaged Ethereum blockspace behind its personal client distribution layer and routes that exercise via a Coinbase-operated execution atmosphere.
Hyperliquid demonstrates that liquidity can now be organized completely around execution quality. DefiLlama reveals $1.52 billion in TVL on Hyperliquid L1, alongside $9.37 billion in 24-hour perpetuals quantity, $42.4 billion over 7 days, and $8.94 billion in open curiosity.
Hyperliquid runs totally on-chain perpetual and spot order books on a purpose-built chain, and people quantity figures affirm that perpetuals have grown massive sufficient to kind a self-contained DeFi liquidity heart.
Open curiosity and day by day turnover measure Hyperliquid’s precise market weight, as TVL captures solely a fraction of the chain’s exercise.
Solana operates at a scale that places it in a separate class from the specialised rails. CoinGecko reveals $15.26 billion in 24-hour chain trading quantity on Solana, the biggest of any chain, and DefiLlama places its DeFi dominance at 6.66%.
Solana features as a high-throughput general-purpose trading venue, distributing move throughout DEXes, memecoins, liquid staking, and institutional tokenization efforts concurrently. Its continued scale confirms that the DeFi market sustains each specialised rails and broad-based opponents.
| Chain | Main function in DeFi | TVL | Key exercise metric | Why it grew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNB Smart Chain | Binance-linked DEX move | $5.55B | $739.6M 24h DEX quantity | Binance distribution, PancakeSwap routing |
| Tron | Stablecoin settlement rail | $5.19B | $89.6B stablecoins, 97.86% USDT share | Dollar transfers, skinny app range |
| Bitcoin | BTC collateral / BTCFi | $5.34B | $338,516 24h DEX quantity | Productive BTC, collateral utility |
| Base | Coinbase-linked Ethereum L2 | $4.58B | $854.97M 24h DEX quantity, $4.93B stablecoins | Consumer onboarding, Coinbase distribution |
| Hyperliquid | Perpetuals venue | $1.52B | $9.37B 24h perps quantity, $8.94B OI | Execution high quality, purpose-built market |
| Solana | General-purpose buying and selling venue | 6.66% share | $15.26B 24h chain buying and selling quantity | High-throughput, broad app combine |
What Ethereum nonetheless controls
Ethereum’s absolute place continues to be sturdy. DefiLlama reveals $45.4 billion in TVL, $165.5 billion in stablecoins, $1.45 billion in 24-hour DEX quantity, and $1.61 billion in 24-hour perps quantity.
Ethereum hosts the blue-chip lending protocols, the deepest stablecoin liquidity swimming pools, and the institutional integrations that the majority DeFi infrastructure depends on as a backstop.
The 30-day TVL information provides necessary context: Ethereum grew 13.9% over that interval, alongside Bitcoin at 13.4%, Base at 10.5%, Hyperliquid at 7.3%, Tron at 6.8%, and BSC at 2.9%.
The market is increasing throughout multiple chains simultaneously, and share redistribution displays specialization throughout that enlargement.
Any dominance analysis constructed purely on TVL wants a methodological caveat. DefiLlama counts chain TVL as the sum of protocol TVL and excludes liquid staking from chain totals by default.
Price appreciation can transfer TVL figures with out internet capital inflows, and DefiLlama tracks bridge TVL individually. An entire image requires stablecoin provide, transaction counts, and buying and selling volumes alongside TVL, every of which tells a distinct story about the place DeFi exercise is definitely concentrated.
Two paths for Ethereum’s share
If stablecoin- and lending-heavy exercise expands quicker than specialist venues, and if Base’s progress is learn in the market as Ethereum stack power, Ethereum’s TVL share may get well towards 55%-58% by end-2026.
Ethereum’s $165.5 billion stablecoin base and its depth in blue-chip lending protocols present the inspiration for that path.
If Binance deepens Alpha integration, Coinbase retains pushing Base via its client app layer, BTCFi collateral use expands additional, and Hyperliquid maintains its grip on on-chain perpetuals, Ethereum’s share compresses towards 46%-50%.
In that state of affairs, Ethereum features as DeFi’s main settlement and custody layer whereas most user-facing exercise flows via specialised venues with higher distribution economics.
Ethereum’s actual problem is holding the settlement layer whereas specialist chains seize the use circumstances with the quickest consumer progress.
The absolute TVL lead is massive sufficient to soak up compression, and the stablecoin and institutional depth reinforce its place as DeFi’s core steadiness sheet.
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