DeFi lending hits record $55 billion TVL as Aave, Maple, and Morpho lead the charge

The total value locked (TVL) in lending protocols has reached an all-time high of over $55.69 billion, surpassing its previous peaks set in 2021, 2022, and late 2024. Aave v3, in particular, has been a major contributor to this surge, hitting a new all-time high of $26.09 billion in TVL last week. Just two months earlier, at the start of April, Aave v3’s TVL stood at $16.87 billion, marking a 55% increase in just two months. Compared to the beginning of 2025, when TVL was $19.72 billion, Aave v3 is now up over 32% year-to-date.For the month of April, Aave averaged roughly $900,000 per day in fees generated. This figure has grown to a daily average of roughly $1.6 million in June, signalling positive growth in terms of protocol fee generation. Over the past three months, the AAVE token has increased by over 65%, significantly outperforming BTC, which has risen by just 26% during the same period.This growth trend isn't isolated to Aave. Other lending protocols, notably Morpho Blue and Maple Finance, have also recorded strong momentum in recent months:Morpho Blue currently holds $3.9 billion in TVL, representing a 38% year-to-date increase.Maple Finance has surged even faster, with TVL now at $1.37 billion, up 417%.On the token front, MORPHO is up 12% over the past three months, while SYRUP, Maple’s native token that TGE’d in May 2025, has rallied by over 140% since launch.Maple Finance, in particular, has gained traction due to its expansion into under-collateralised real-world asset (RWA) lending. Its "sovereign pool" framework enables any delegate to originate credit lines provided they can verify borrower underwriting data on-chain. This innovation has enabled Maple to diversify beyond its original clientele in the crypto market-making space.More broadly, this also aligns with the rise of tokenized finance, where traditional credit desks that can’t hold spot crypto can still participate by purchasing tokenized notes, funneling capital into DeFi rails.This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.