DeFi absolutely crushed it in 2024, racking up a jaw-dropping $19.1 billion in open borrows by Q4, while CeFi stumbles along with a pathetic $11.2 billion. Talk about a knockout! DeFi’s borrowing skyrocketed 959% since Q4 2022, snagging 63% of the crypto lending pie. CeFi? Barely keeping up. It’s a brutal gap, no sugarcoating it. Ethereum’s leading the charge with over $70 billion locked. Stick around—there’s more to unpack here.
Buckle up, folks—DeFi just steamrolled 2024 like a runaway freight train. The decentralized finance space exploded, racking up a market size of $20.48 to $21.04 billion, with projections screaming toward $26.17 billion by year-end. That’s not just growth; it’s a full-on rampage.
And the total value locked? Oh, it skyrocketed to over $133.88 billion by December, a jaw-dropping 150% surge from the measly $54-55.95 billion at the year’s start. Some sources even pegged TVL at a wild $214 billion, up 211%. Insanity.
Now, let’s talk lending, because DeFi didn’t just win—it obliterated CeFi. Open borrows in DeFi hit $19.1 billion by Q4’s end, while centralized finance limped along at $11.2 billion. Ethereum continues to dominate this space, holding over $70 billion in value locked as collateral, reinforcing its position as the backbone of DeFi. value locked as collateral
DeFi crushed CeFi in lending, boasting $19.1 billion in open borrows by Q4, while CeFi stumbled at just $11.2 billion. Brutal.
Rewind to Q4 2022, DeFi borrowing was a sad $1.8 billion. Now? A 959% surge. CeFi, meanwhile, crashed 68% from its 2022 peak of $34.8 billion. Ouch. DeFi’s snagging 63% of crypto borrowing now, up from a measly 34% in 2021. Who’s laughing now? With institutional adoption driving mainstream acceptance, major players like BlackRock are exploring DeFi tokenization opportunities.
What’s fueling this beast? Trends, baby. Liquid Restaking Tokens blew up—EigenLayer alone hoarded $17 billion in TVL. Layer-2 solutions? TVL up 232%, hitting $37 billion. Additionally, the rise of cross-chain solutions has further boosted interoperability, expanding DeFi’s reach across multiple blockchains. cross-chain solutions
Bitcoin DeFi? A ridiculous 2000% TVL spike. Even memecoin mania dragged in liquidity like a black hole. And don’t forget TradFi integration—tokenizing real-world assets is the new cool kid on the block.
Ethereum’s still king, clutching 55-56% of TVL, though it’s slipping from its 72.2% high last year. Lido Finance reigns supreme at nearly $40 billion TVL, while Solana’s up 2000%, snagging 6-6.7% market share.
Newbies like Base and Sui are sneaking in, too. Users? They’re swarming—7 million daily active wallets in DeFi by year-end, a 532% jump. Unique users? Over 20 million, up 300%. Wild.
