DeFi TVL down $45B in 2026 despite more resilient market structure

Total value locked in decentralized finance has fallen by about 39% so far in 2026, sliding to just over $70 billion from roughly $115 billion in January. CryptoRank ties the drop to the broader market correction after October 2025’s peak; following Bitcoin’s run above $122,000, a market-wide liquidation on Oct.

10 erased more than $19 billion in leveraged positions and accelerated a deleveraging cycle. Even with the decline, CryptoRank says the current drawdown is far smaller than the 2021–2022 bear market, signaling a more resilient DeFi market structure. Security incidents added another layer of pressure: there have been 121 hacks year-to-date, totaling about $942 million in losses.

Nicolai Søndergaard of Nansen noted the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit on April 18 compressed what would have been weeks of outflows into days, and Aave users withdrew about $15 billion in the four days after the event.

defi tvl, cryptorank, bitcoin, october 2025, liquidations, deleveraging, hacks, kelp dao, aave withdrawals, nansen