DeFi TVL Stagnates at $225 Billion: The Mass Market Opportunity Ahead

DeFi has its ups and downs, and 2026 can be the time when it goes mainstream. TVL was as high as $204 billion back in 2021, dropped after FTX collapsed, and rose to $225 billion by October 2025, a mere 10% increase over four years, which is indicative of crypto-native growth slowing down.

It is not that people aren’t interested. The problem is that DeFi isn’t big enough yet. Mobile fintech applications handle over $2 trillion in assets globally, while DeFi is still a small player.

The top 100 neobanks control $2.4 trillion by themselves. In other words, DeFi is an extremely small fraction of the market that will grow only if more everyday users start using the system, not just traders and big investors.

This speaks to continued demand for on-chain money even when it isn’t growing quickly. More users are looking for yield opportunities, and protocols that make these products more accessible to a wider audience can attract a lot of capital.

DeFi’s Path to Mainstream Adoption

One huge vertical with tremendous opportunity is that of yield-bearing stablecoins and RWAs. Yield-bearing stablecoins like the sUSDS and sUSDe alone currently have more than $20 billion in value. RWAs, or assets backed by treasuries or other traditional instruments, are making a lot of headway on-chain.

For now, the vast majority of these products cater primarily to crypto-native users. Were these opportunities made more accessible to institutional or retail users, trillions would be unlocked and bring in millions of new participants.

Consumer-friendly apps will be the key to this shift. Starting to offer easy, accessible yield products, protocols such as Aave, Ethena Labs, and Pendle had strong growth in 2025. The next move is adding these opportunities directly into FinTech apps and neo-banks. Hundreds of millions of people already use mobile apps for money management, so if DeFi fits in seamlessly with this, then the potential for adoption is enormous.

It won’t come from more intricate yield farms or highly specialized derivative platforms. It will come from reliable and straightforward products that obviously help end users. Built-in DeFi, ease-of-use apps such as the Aave App, and well-packaged options for yield could finally connect crypto enthusiasts with the mainstream.

Also Read: AAVE Price Holds Support While DeFi Rewards Continue Growing Strongly