Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis: Total Lock-up Position Value of DeFi Soars to $34 Billion, Institutions Expected to Unlock a New Round of Alts Season

Ethereum (ETH) today (10) continued its upward trend in the early European session, currently priced at 2,787 USD. As Bitcoin reached a new historical high, the crypto assets market is reigniting investor interest, particularly in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector. Investors are shifting their focus toward the utility of digital assets rather than relying solely on simple capital gains, with the Total Value Locked (TVL) in the DeFi market growing by over 34 billion USD in the past three months.

This shift highlights the growing maturity of investors, which could further boost demand for DeFi services. On the other hand, the increasing interest from institutional investors may drive Bitcoin to be incorporated into DeFi services.

Ethereum Dominates the Growth Story of DeFi

The TVL of the DeFi market represents the dollar value of digital assets locked across all protocols. Data from DeFiLlama shows that the TVL of this market has rebounded from a year-to-date low of $83.85 billion on April 9 to $121.41 billion. Over the past three months, more than $34 billion in funds has flowed in, highlighting a renewed interest in DeFi services.

(Source: DefiLlama)

The Total Value Locked (TVL) held by Ethereum is 69.25 billion USD, up from 44.04 billion USD on April 9, accounting for 57% of the market's TVL share. This means that out of a total inflow of 34 billion USD across all protocols, Ethereum's inflow was 25 billion USD.

(Source: DefiLlama)

Investors may find that the issuance of Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) promoting Staking will become the next catalyst. With the entry of institutional investors, the influx of large amounts of capital may further increase the Total Value Locked (TVL). According to SoSoValue, as of July 9, the total amount of ETH held by U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs has reached $11.84 billion.

Institutions Can Unravel the Mystery of Bitcoin DeFi

The market capitalization of Bitcoin exceeds 2.21 trillion USD, accounting for a market share of 64.63% based on valuation. Although Bitcoin's dominance has decreased in the short term, its value still surpasses the total of all altcoins.

As a means of storing digital value, institutional investors' interest in Bitcoin has been growing increasingly strong, driving a net inflow of $14.9 billion into Bitcoin so far in 2025. As of July 9, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs hold Bitcoin worth $139.39 billion. Notably, since June 9, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have experienced only one day of fund outflow, which was $342.25 million on July 1.

However, the expanding use cases of Bitcoin have integrated into the DeFi space through staking and other functionalities. According to DeFiLlama data, the Total Value Locked of Bitcoin (TVL) is 6.59 billion USD, ranking third in the DeFi space.

Similar to the push for Bitcoin by Ethereum staking ETF issuers, this may enhance its market share in DeFi. If authorities approve ETF issuers to offer staking and/or DeFi services, a potential influx of large amounts of capital could undermine Ethereum's dominance.

(Source: Trading View)