TVL Breaches $200 Billion Mark, While the DeFi Protocols Remain Subdued

The cryptocurrency market has taken a dip as technical resistance levels have held ground. Surprisingly, the dip has a different context for Bitcoin and altcoin. In Bitcoin crypto, the drop in prices is a retracement to the uptrend, while in altcoins, it is a drawdown from the top of the ranging market.

That being said, the overall direction of the entire market is certainly turning bullish. Of course, the price is a great indicator that determines the performance of crypto, but the fundamentals lead to the price. And the fundamental upgrades and updates, especially in the altcoin market, are showing extremely bullish though it is not reflected in the token prices as of yet.

One sector that is skyrocketing in their projects itself is the DeFi space. It is no doubt that the demand for DeFi has been growing at an almost exponential rate ever since it has gained public traction. But strangely, is price market of defi projects is lagging with their actual performance.

Total Locked Value in DeFi Hits $200 Billion

The demand in the defi sector is directly proportional to the total locked value (TVL). Basing it off on the trends shown by the TVL, defi is cementing itself for its long-term stay in the crypto market.

Speaking of the latest update, the total locked value in defi has hit the $200 billion mark on October 5. It is the first time that the value has reached this mark despite the price market being off-sync.

To bring more perspective, the TVL in USD was only $20B at the beginning of 2021. And this was the time when the entire crypto was booming and making all-time highs. But as the demand in the defi space grew, the total locked value began to rise like a hockey stick. Within ten months, the TVL increased by 10 times to take it to the $200B mark.

source: defillama

Curve and AAVE Lead head-to-head, MakerDAO Follows

Speaking of the split-up of the TVL among the defi protocols, Curve Finance has taken the lead leaving behind AAVE marginally. With a TVL of $15.92B, as of writing, Curve (CRV) has been holding grounds at the number one spot. But the difference is quite insignificant to the next position as AAVE holds $14.82B as its locked value. Similarly, MakerDAO (MKR) takes the third position with a billion USD TVL lesser than AAVE.

It is rather interesting to note that Curve is available across seven chains, while AAVE is linked with only three chains. Despite being integrated with half the chains, AAVE’s TVL is only one billion beneath Curve’s TVL.

Solana, Avalanche, Fantom, Waves Gain Traction

Going by the recent trends, chains including Solana token, Avalanche (AVAX), Fantom (FTM) have seen a great surge in their TVL. In fact, all the mentioned chains have now registered their place in the top 10. As per the 7-day change in TVL market cap, Fantom and Avalanche have increased by 199% and 33.34%, respectively, while Waves and Solana have seen a rise of 14.84% and 5.76%. Speaking of the chain with the highest protocols associated with it, Ethereum is steadily increasing by 1% in a week.

Looking at the price markets of the protocols and the chains, the market of chains is leading the defi protocols by a big margin.

Fantom (FTM)

After a long-held consolidation a few months ago, the prices of Fantom crypto have resumed their uptrend and have managed to breach the all-time high set in May.

Fantom has been one of the surprising cryptos to outperform, as they had gone into an evident downtrend after setting its ATH in May at almost $1. But with its fundamental upgrades, developments, and integrations, the demand for the FTM token has increased considerably – the price action shows.

Currently, FTM is in an uptrend making higher highs and higher lows. The first impulsive push broke above the ATH, while the second impulsive push began by taking the same previous ATH as support. As of the writing, the prices are retracing, as the buyers demand some discount.

Avalanche (AVAX)

Avalanche crypto has been a go-to platform when it comes to bridging chains. Despite the downturn, it took in the second quarter of 2021, the demand for the project and its ecosystem did not see a decline throughout.

Speaking of the price action, AVAX token has been able to breach above its previous all-time high in September. Relative to its peers, it did take longer to show the predicted price action, but the strength of the trend does remain highly bullish.

AAVE (AAVE)

Aave, the defi protocol placed second in total locked value, has been struggling in its price market. Although the TVL value has been surging week-on-week, the AAVE token has failed to show similar price action.

That being said, at no point in time, the overall trend of the market went into a downtrend, which certainly is a strong point in favor of the bulls. Hence, sooner or later, AAVE crypto is due to make a new all-time high.

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