DeFi TVL soars to record $237B while daily active wallets plunge 22% in Q3: DappRadar

DeFi protocols achieved a historic milestone in Q3 2025, with total value locked (TVL) soaring to a record-breaking $237 billion, according to DappRadar's latest cryptocurrency market analysis. This unprecedented surge in decentralized finance liquidity demonstrates growing institutional confidence in blockchain-based financial protocols and smart contract technology.

However, the bullish DeFi TVL data contrasts sharply with declining retail participation, as daily active wallets across decentralized applications (DApps) plummeted 22% during the same period. Daily unique active wallets averaged just 18, highlighting a significant disconnect between institutional capital inflows and everyday crypto user engagement.

This divergence suggests that while institutional investors and whale wallets are heavily capitalizing on DeFi yield farming opportunities and liquidity mining protocols, retail cryptocurrency adoption faces headwinds. The gap between soaring DeFi total value locked and shrinking active wallet participation raises questions about the sustainability of current growth trends in the decentralized finance ecosystem.

Market analysts view this data as indicative of cryptocurrency market maturation, where institutional money drives TVL growth while retail traders remain cautious amid ongoing blockchain scalability challenges.