DeFi TVL hits record $237B as daily active wallets fall 22% in Q3: DappRadar

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The decentralized exertion (DApp) manufacture ended the 3rd 4th of 2025 with mixed results, arsenic decentralized concern (DeFi) liquidity surged to a grounds precocious portion idiosyncratic enactment fell sharply, according to caller information from DappRadar.

In a study sent to Cointelegraph, DappRadar said that regular unsocial progressive wallets averaged 18.7 cardinal successful Q3, down 22.4% compared to the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols collectively locked successful $237 billion, the highest total worth locked (TVL) ever recorded successful the space. 

The study highlights an ongoing divergence betwixt organization superior flowing into blockchain-based fiscal platforms and the engagement of retail users with DApps. While DeFi TVL reached grounds levels of liquidity, wide enactment lagged, suggesting weaker retail participation.

“Looking astatine the full quarter, each class noted a driblet successful progressive wallets, but the interaction was mostly felt successful the Social and AI categories,” DappRadar wrote. AI-focused DApps mislaid implicit 1.7 cardinal users, going from a regular mean of 4.8 cardinal successful Q2 to 3.1 cardinal successful Q3, portion SocialFi DApps went from 3.8 cardinal to 1.5 cardinal successful Q3.  

Unique progressive wallet categories successful the decentralized apps ecosystem. Source: DappRadar

DeFi TVL reached a caller all-time precocious successful Q3

DappRadar attributed DeFi’s grounds liquidity to respective converging factors, including increasing organization vulnerability to Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins, regulatory clarity from the US GENIUS Act, and caller infrastructure supporting real-world plus (RWA) tokenization

DappRadar said that stablecoins person emerged arsenic a span betwixt cryptocurrency and accepted finance. As Cointelegraph antecedently reported, stablecoin inflows reached $46 cardinal successful Q3, led by Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC). 

Apart from stablecoins themselves, platforms dedicated to stablecoins emerged, contributing to the summation successful DeFi TVL.

DappRadar pointed to Plasma, a layer-1 concatenation built specifically for stablecoins, debuting with implicit $8 cardinal successful TVL successful its archetypal month. 

DeFi's full worth locked successful the 3rd 4th of 2025. Source: DappRadar


Related: $10B successful Ethereum awaits exit arsenic validator withdrawals surge

BNB Chain emerges arsenic a apical DeFi web successful Q3

During the quarter, Ethereum maintained its pb arsenic the apical DeFi web with $119 cardinal successful locked assets, contempt a humble 4% diminution compared to Q2. Solana, presently successful 2nd place, saw its DeFi TVL diminution by 33% to $13.8 cardinal successful Q3. 

While the apical 2 DeFi networks successful presumption of TVL showed a slowdown successful momentum, the third-biggest web successful DeFi TVL, BNB Chain, saw a 15% summation successful locked assets during the quarter.

DappRadar attributed the summation successful BNB Chain TVL to the motorboat of the perpetual decentralized speech (DEX) Aster, which gained traction successful September

Total worth locked information by networks. Source: DappRadar

While Aster volumes skyrocketed wrong the perpetual trading space, information aggregator DefiLlama doubted the integrity of Aster’s data.

According to DefiLlama co-founder 0xngmi, trading volumes connected Aster started mirroring Binance Perp volumes astir exactly. As a result, the level delisted Aster from its site

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