Record $237 Billion in DeFi TVL Amid Decline in Wallet Activity
The DApp sector has concluded the third quarter of 2025 with varied results. Total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) reached a historic high of $237 billion, while the number of active wallets saw a sharp decrease of 22%, primarily attributed to the declining popularity of SocialFi and AI-focused DApps.
DappRadar reported that the daily count of unique active wallets averaged 18.7 million during Q3, representing a 22.4% drop from the previous quarter. Even as DeFi protocols achieved a new TVL record, user engagement remained subdued, showing a distinct gap between institutional investments and retail user activity.
“Throughout the quarter, every category experienced a decline in active wallets, particularly the Social and AI sectors,” DappRadar stated. (Translation: “In every category, we observed a drop in the number of active wallets, especially in Social and AI categories.”)
This decline was stark in AI-oriented DApps, which lost over 1.7 million users, dropping from a daily average of 4.8 million in Q2 to 3.1 million in Q3.
Unique active wallet categories in the decentralized apps ecosystem. Source: DappRadar
DeFi TVL Surges to an All-Time High
The record liquidity in DeFi has been attributed to various factors, including increased institutional interest in Bitcoin and stablecoins, regulatory clarity from the U.S. GENIUS Act, and advancements in real-world asset tokenization. DappRadar noted the role of stablecoins as a bridge between crypto and traditional finance, with inflows totaling $46 billion in Q3, driven mainly by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
DappRadar also highlighted Plasma, a layer-1 chain launching with over $8 billion in TVL during its initial month, designed to enhance stablecoin-related activities.
DeFi’s total value locked in the third quarter of 2025. Source: DappRadar
BNB Chain Emerges as a Leading Network
In this quarter, Ethereum continued its dominance as the premier DeFi network, boasting $119 billion in locked assets, albeit with a 4% dip compared to Q2. Solana, in second place, suffered a significant 33% reduction to $13.8 billion.
Conversely, BNB Chain saw a 15% growth in locked assets, attributed to the successful launch of the perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX) Aster. However, concerns about Aster’s data integrity were raised following claims that its trading volumes mirrored those of Binance Perp almost perfectly, leading to its removal from DefiLlama’s monitoring.
Total value locked data by networks. Source: DappRadar
