The Objective
As a DeFi analyst, understanding Total Value Locked (TVL) is critical. TVL represents the total capital deposited in a protocol—it's the primary metric for protocol health and market dominance.
I analyzed real-time data from DeFiLlama to identify which protocols, categories, and chains control the DeFi landscape.
7,012
Protocols Analyzed
$558B
Total TVL
88.5%
Market Coverage
Step 1: Data Collection
I used the DeFiLlama public API to fetch live TVL data for all protocols. No API key required—just a simple HTTP call.
📥 Data Downloads
Step 2: Analysis & Insights
Using Python (Pandas + Matplotlib), I generated visualizations to answer key questions regarding protocol dominance and distribution.
Fig 1: Top 10 protocols by Total Value Locked
Fig 2: TVL distribution by protocol category
Fig 3: Multi-chain vs single-chain protocols
Key Findings
- CEX dominance: Centralized exchanges (Binance, OKX) still hold the majority of TVL despite the "decentralization" narrative.
- Lending protocols like Aave V3 are the backbone of DeFi, powering $54B in loans.
- Multi-chain wins: Protocols deployed across multiple chains capture significantly more TVL than single-chain competitors.