DeFi TVL drops by $45B, erasing gains since Trump election

DeFi is shrinking, with the total value of assets in decentralized protocols losing all gains since Donald Trump was elected US president.
The total value of cryptocurrencies locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols has lost all its gains since Donald Trump was elected US president in November 2024.
Following the US election, DeFi TVL rose to as high as $138 billion on Dec. 17, but had retracted to $92.6 billion by March 10, as noted by analyst Miles Deutscher.
Solana has borne the brunt of criticism as its memecoin popularity fades, but Ethereum has faced its own challenges in recent cycles, with Ether (ETH) failing to reach a new all-time high despite Bitcoin (BTC) soaring past $109,000 on Jan. 20, the day Trump took office. Ethereum’s TVL has also dropped by $30.6 billion from cycle highs, DefiLlama data shows.