Fresh data from market intelligence company DappRadar has unveiled that the total value locked (TVL) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has surged to its highest level in 15 months.

DappRadar highlighted in a recent blog post that DeFi’s TVL has hit $192 billion, marking a 17% increase from the previous month and the highest level seen since February 2022. TVL represents the amount of capital locked in a protocol’s smart contracts and is commonly used to assess the strength of a crypto ecosystem.

The growth was primarily fueled by rising token prices, especially for smart contract platforms like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). Ethereum dominates the DeFi TVL, accounting for 68% this month, followed by Solana, which has seen a boost from memecoin trading and DeFi activities on its network. Additionally, SOL token has surged by 11% in the last 30 days.

ETH is currently trading at $3,692, while SOL is valued at $158.94. DappRadar also highlighted Bitcoin’s layer-2 solution Merlin Chain (MERL) as a significant contributor in May, surpassing the Lightning Network to become the largest sidechain for the crypto king.

Merlin has gained momentum as the top performer this month, with over half of its $1 billion locked in Solv Finance. This protocol enables users to deposit Wrapped Bitcoin and receive ‘Solv Points’ in return.

MERL is currently trading at $0.441, marking a 10.10% decrease in the last 24 hours. To stay updated on the latest developments, subscribe to receive email alerts directly to your inbox and follow us on X, Facebook, and Telegram.