DeFi TVL Falls to $87.8 Billion as Morpho Gains and Lido Slips

Decentralized finance (DeFi) had about $87.8 billion in total value locked (TVL) on Oct. 26, down roughly 1.8% over 24 hours. Changes among large protocols differed: Morpho’s TVL increased over the past week, while Lido’s declined.

Decentralized exchanges handled about $44.1 billion in trading volume over seven days, more than 12% below the prior week. Perpetual futures activity declined about 8.6% over the same period.

TVL measures the dollar value of assets held in DeFi protocols. Because that value is denominated in dollars, price movements can change the total even without a corresponding change in deposits or withdrawals. A TVL reading alone does not show how much new capital entered or left a protocol.

Morpho’s TVL rose by about $304 million over the past week to roughly $11.4 billion, a 2.7% increase. The protocol offers isolated lending markets and curated vaults, allowing lending activity to be organized across separate markets.

Lido remained the largest DeFi protocol by TVL, at about $22.6 billion after a decline of roughly $790 million over the week. Its liquid staking service lets users stake Ether (ETH) and receive tokens that can be used elsewhere in DeFi, so the dollar value of assets held can reflect both token prices and staking activity.

Aave’s TVL was about $17.6 billion on Oct. 26, compared with roughly $19.1 billion at the end of September. That comparison covers a different period from the seven-day Morpho and Lido changes.

DeFi TVL stood at $95.42 billion on Sept. 26, up 37.9% from June 30, during a quarter when Ether rose 67%. The third-quarter rebound illustrates how asset-price gains can contribute to changes in dollar-denominated TVL.