A league table of the 120 cryptocurrencies with the highest market cap reveals how diverse each crypto is and potentially how much risk is involved when investing in one. Bitcoin (BTC), for instance, had a so-called "high cap" - a market cap worth more than ** billion U.S. dollars - indicating this crypto project has a certain track record or, at the very least, is considered a major player in the cryptocurrency space. This is different in Decentralize Finance (DeFi), where Bitcoin is only a relatively new player. A concentrated market The number of existing cryptocurrencies is several thousands, even if most have a limited significance. Indeed, Bitcoin and Ethereum account for nearly ** percent of the entire crypto market capitalization. As crypto is relatively easy to create, the range of projects varies significantly - from improving payments to solving real-world issues, but also meme coins and more speculative investments. Crypto is not considered a payment method While often talked about as an investment vehicle, cryptocurrencies have not yet established a clear use case in day-to-day life. Central bankers found that usefulness of crypto in domestic payments or remittances to be negligible. A forecast for the world's main online payment methods took a similar stance: It predicts that cryptocurrency would only take up *** percent of total transaction value by 2027.

It is estimated that the cumulative market cap of cryptocurrencies increased in early 2023 after the downfall in November 2022 due to FTX. That value declined in the summer of 2023, however, as international uncertainty grew over a potential recession. Bitcoin's market cap comprised the majority of the overall market capitalization. What is market cap? Market capitalization is a financial measure typically used for publicly traded firms, computed by multiplying the share price by the number of outstanding shares. However, cryptocurrency analysts calculate it as the price of the virtual currencies times the number of coins in the market. This gives cryptocurrency investors an idea of the overall market size, and watching the evolution of the measure tells how much money is flowing in or out of each cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency as an investment The price of Bitcoin has been erratic, and most other cryptocurrencies follow its larger price swings. This volatility attracts investors who hope to buy when the price is low and sell at its peak, turning a profit. However, this does little for price stability. As such, few firms accept payment in cryptocurrencies. As of June 25, 2025, the cumulative market cap of cryptocurrencies reached a value of ******.

As of January 14, 2025, the market capitalization of ************** amounted to ****** billion U.S. dollars, making it the largest bank in the United States. By this measure, the second-largest bank was ***************, followed by ***********. ************** and *************** are also the two largest banks in the world by market capitalization. What is market capitalization? Market capitalization, or stock market value, is the total value of shares issued by a publicly traded company. It reflects the equity value of a company. Market cap is calculated by multiplying the market price of one share by the number of shares outstanding. For example, the market cap of Bank of America can be calculated by multiplying its share price by the number of shares it has issued. Other measures of company size Total assets also allow to determine the size of a bank. Instead of focusing on the stock price, this metric measures the size of the bank’s operations by counting the size of its balance sheet. Bank revenue and income are also common indicators used to compare banks and their performance.

As of April 29, 2025, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF was the highest valued exchange-traded fund (ETF) globally, with a market capitalization of over *** trillion U.S. dollars. The market capitalization of an ETF is calculated by multiplying the number of shares issued in the fund by the share price. This ETF is also the ******-largest ETF by assets under management. However, the Vanguard fund is different because shares in the fund are sold as various different products, some of which are structured as ETFs, while others are structured as traditional mutual funds. What are ETFs? ETFs are similar to mutual funds, in that they consist of a pool of investors’ funds which are managed by an independent third party for the purpose of a common financial investment. However, ETFs differ through how shares in the fund are bought and sold through a stock exchange, rather than directly from the fund manager. This provides the advantages of generally lower prices (as the transaction costs are paid by the exchange operator rather than the fund manager), and the possibility of intraday trading (as shares in a traditional mutual fund can only be bought and sold after the close of daily trading). The total assets managed by ETFs globally is almost six times lower than that of mutual funds, although the gap in AUM between ETFs and mutual funds in the United States is much lower, at just over three times less. Who are the largest ETF providers? The ******* provider of ETFs globally is Blackrock, the world’s largest asset management company. As of April 2025, the company had more than ***** trillion U.S. dollars of assets under management in exchange traded funds in the U.S. alone, while Blackrock’s total assets under management across all products reached almost **** trillion U.S. dollars. Rounding out the top ***** providers of ETFs are fellow U.S. asset managers Vanguard and State Street.

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Cryptocurrency Market Size 2025-2029

The cryptocurrency market size is forecast to increase by USD 39.75 billion, at a CAGR of 16.7% between 2024 and 2029.

The Cryptocurrency Market is segmented by distribution channel (Sales Personnel, Insurance Agencies), type (Life, Non-life), mode (Offline, Online), end-user (Corporate, Individual), and geography (North America: US, Canada; Europe: France, Germany, UK; APAC: Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea; Rest of World). This segmentation reflects the market's diversity, driven by increasing adoption of Online modes for Individual end-users, particularly in APAC regions like India and South Korea, growing demand for Non-life cryptocurrency products through Insurance Agencies, and Corporate engagement via Sales Personnel in North America and Europe, catering to varied financial and investment needs across global markets.
The market is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing investment in digital assets and the acceptance of cryptocurrency by retailers. This trend signifies a shift in the financial landscape, as more individuals and businesses recognize the potential benefits of decentralized currencies. However, the market's volatility poses a considerable challenge. The unpredictable value fluctuations can create uncertainty for investors and businesses alike, necessitating careful strategic planning and risk management. Companies seeking to capitalize on this market's opportunities must stay informed of the latest trends and be prepared to navigate the inherent risks. E-commerce, luxury goods, insurance, and even cryptocurrency debit cards are increasingly accepting digital currencies as payment methods.
Adopting innovative technologies, such as blockchain and smart contracts, can help mitigate risks and provide a competitive edge. Additionally, collaborations and partnerships with established financial institutions and retailers can further solidify a company's position in the market. Overall, the market presents both opportunities and challenges, requiring strategic agility and a forward-thinking approach.

What will be the Size of the Cryptocurrency Market during the forecast period?

Explore in-depth regional segment analysis with market size data - historical 2019-2023 and forecasts 2025-2029 - in the full report.
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The market continues to evolve, with dynamic interplays between decentralized storage solutions, hardware wallets, and crypto wallets shaping the landscape. Merchant adoption is on the rise, driving up market capitalization and pushing the boundaries of cryptocurrency security. Proof-of-work (POW) and hashing algorithms underpin the foundations of this decentralized economy, while cryptocurrency derivatives and decentralized finance (DeFi) offer new avenues for portfolio diversification. Open-source software fuels the innovation, with smart contracts paving the way for automated transactions. Cryptocurrency trading is a constant activity, with options contracts, futures contracts, and other instruments adding complexity. The integration of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and yield farming further expands the market's reach.

Cryptocurrency's applications extend beyond digital assets, touching upon privacy-enhancing technologies, philanthropy, community development, and more. The integration of decentralized governance, consensus mechanisms, and decentralized identity adds layers of complexity and potential. Risk management is a critical component, with cryptocurrency education and security audits essential for investors. The emergence of privacy coins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized applications (dApps) adds to the market's diversity. The market is a dynamic, ever-evolving ecosystem, shaped by ongoing activities and emerging patterns. Quantum computing and regulatory developments pose new challenges, while the integration of cryptocurrency payments, cold storage, and trading volume continues to drive growth.

The future of this decentralized economy is bright, with continuous innovation and adaptation shaping its trajectory.

How is this Cryptocurrency Industry segmented?

The cryptocurrency industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

Type

  Bitcoin
  Ethereum
  Others
  Ripple
  Bitcoin Cash
  Cardano


Component

  Hardware
  Software


Process

  Mining
  Transaction
  Mining
  Transaction


End-Use

  Trading
  E-commerce and Retail
  Peer-to-Peer Payment
  Remittance
  Trading
  E-commerce and Retail
  Peer-to-Peer Payment
  Remittance


Geography

  North America

    US
    Canada


  Europe

    Germany
    Italy
    Switzerland
    The Netherlands
    UK


  APAC

    China
    Japan


  South America

    Br

UnitedHealth was the largest life insurance provider in the United States as of July 2025, with a market capitalization amounting to ****** billion U.S. dollars. Rankings of life insurance companies – additional information As well as UnitedHealth, other leading life insurance companies in terms of market capitalization in the United States, as of July 2025, were: Progressive, Marsh & McLennan companies, Cigna and Elevance Health. However, many of the largest life insurance providers in the United States are not publicly listed companies, meaning they are excluded from this list. When taking total assets into consideration, Prudential Financial, followed by MetLife, New York Life, and Massachusetts Mutual were the largest life insurance companies in the United States in 2023. The market capitalization measure, being the total value of the company (the total value of all outstanding shares), is frequently considered when composing rankings of business leaders. However, when comparing various life insurance companies, it might also prove useful to examine their revenues, net life insurance premiums, direct life insurance premiums or life insurance in force, in addition to the aforementioned market capitalization and total assets.

Although there are multiple stablecoins that use the USD as a collateral, two of these digital assets were much bigger than the others. The main names that spring to mind regarding stablecoins, Tether and USD Coin, are the main examples of collateralized stablecoins, or stablecoins that are entirely or near entirely backed up by a reserve asset. Stablecoins have often been associated with their close relation to "real-world" fiat currencies to achieve their price stability and assuring the digital asset's value, most notably the U.S. dollar. Tether and USD Coin ranked among the top cryptocurrencies in the world, for that reason. As of May 19, 2025, Tether has a market value of *******, while USD Coin's market value is ********. There are other assets, however, that can serve as the backing for a stablecoin.

The global banking sector has seen significant growth in recent years, with the market capitalization of the 100 largest banks reaching 7.4 trillion euros in early 2025. This marks the highest value observed since 2016, reflecting a strong recovery and expansion in the banking industry. The upward trend is particularly noteworthy given the fluctuations experienced in previous years, including the sharp decline during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Chinese banks dominate global rankings While market capitalization provides one measure of bank size, total assets offer another perspective. In 2023, Chinese banks occupied the top four positions globally based on total assets, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) leading at approximately 6.3 trillion U.S. dollars. However, when ranked by market capitalization, JPMorgan Chase took the top spot, with ICBC falling to third place. This highlights the different metrics used to assess bank size and influence in the global financial landscape. China's banking sector continues to expand The growth in market capitalization of the world's largest banks is mirrored by the expansion of China's banking sector. By 2023, the number of banking institutions in China had reached 4,425, showing relative stability in recent years after a period of increase. Additionally, the value of bank assets in China amounted to over 50 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023, nearly tripling over the past decade. This rapid growth underscores China's increasing importance in the global banking industry and its potential influence on overall market capitalization trends.

The market cap of the top 10 stablecoin initially multiplied over time, reaching a combined value of over *** billion USD in May 2025. Note this value does not include TerraUSD (UST), the algorithmic stablecoin tied to the LUNA crypto which declined severely in May 2022. Up to then, estimates reveal that the market cap had more than tripled within five months - likely following growing interest worldwide in cryptocurrencies, after sudden price spikes in a coin like Dogecoin (DOGE). Stability above all, or what does a stablecoin do? Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies - like the commonly known Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) - but their value is determined differently. Whilst the price of Bitcoin mainly follows supply - how many coins are being mined or are available to purchase - and demand - how many investors want to buy the coin - stablecoins are synthetically connected to the price of an altogether different asset. Tether's USDT, for instance, is connected to the price development of the U.S. dollar (USD): if the U.S. dollar falls in the FX market, so does the USDT. Compare this to the "regular" price history of a cryptocurrency like Ripple (XRP) and stablecoins reveal themselves to be a relatively less volatile digital currency to either use or invest in than their counterparts in the free market. A test ground for digital payments This stability of these particular cryptocurrencies is important for two areas in digital payments that do not prefer volatility. For instance, these coins are a popular choice within the world of Decentralized Finance or DeFi - an online financial market without the supervision of central bank that relies on cryptocurrencies for payments and loans. Because of that reliance, it is a market that can rapidly change in size due to price fluctuations or changing transaction fees of certain cryptocurrencies - something that is less likely to occur when using stablecoins. Additionally, stablecoins are considered the inspiration for so-called CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currencies - such as China's e-CNY currency or the "digital euro" that is being researched in the EU-27. In terms of how advanced countries worldwide are into researching their own cryptocurrency, China ranked third in 2020, behind Cambodia, and The Bahamas.

Bitcoin ranked as one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies existing by April 2024 - although values changed noticeably. Bitcoin had the most expensive cryptocurrency for a while, but Ethereum was significantly cheaper, with a price that was roughly 30 times less than that of the most well-known digital currency. However, Bitcoin is in a unique position. Ethereum is one of several cryptocurrencies, for instance, that come from blockchains that focus on making financial applications possible. Bitcoin, or a digital equivalent of gold When one categorizes the different types of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin stands out as it is one of the few that are essentially meant to store digital value. Some describe Bitcoin as a digital version of gold, purely designed to hold or possibly purchasing power over time. It has no other applications built around it, and is considered too slow to perform financial transactions. Stablecoins, the less volatile cryptocurrency Many coins in this ranking stand out as their price seemingly has not changed as much as others. This is because these are stablecoins - cryptocurrencies pegged to the price development of an external asset. This group of digital assets comprise an increasing share within the overall crypto market. Some see these coins as the future of retail payments, whereas others view these coins as a "safe" addition to their crypto investments.

As of the first quarter of 2025, the New York City-based asset management company BlackRock had total assets under management (AUM) of around ***** trillion U.S. dollars. The total assets under management of BlackRock Inc. more than ******* between 2016 and 2025, reaching a value which makes them the world’s largest asset management company. Which assets do BlackRock manage? The company manages a wide range of assets: equity, fixed income, multi-assets, and alternatives, but their assets under management are also counted in cash management and advisory. As of 2023, the largest proportion of BlackRock’s AUM was equity, which accounted for more than **** of their total AUM that year. Which are their leading funds? BlackRock manages several different types of funds in several different asset classes: exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and close-end funds. As of 2023, the ETF iShares Core S&P 500 was the company’s leading fund, which corresponds to the performance of common stocks in the S&P 500 Index.

The value of global domestic equity market increased from 65.04 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013 to 124.63 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. The United States was by far the leading country with the largest share of total world stocks as of 2024. Global market capitalization in different regions The market capitalization of domestic companies listed varied across different regions of the world. As of Decmber 2024, the Americas region had the largest domestic equity market, totaling 62 trillion U.S. dollars. This region is home to the NYSE and Nasdaq, which are the two largest stock exchange operators in the world. The market capitalization of these two exchanges alone exceeded 60 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2025, larger than the total market capitalization in the Asia-Pacific, and in the EMEA regions in the same period. Largest Stock Exchanges in Latin America As of December 2024, the B3 (Brasil Bolsa Balcao) was the biggest stock exchange in Latin America in terms of market capitalization and the second-largest in terms of number of listed companies. Following the B3 were the Mexican Stock Exchange and the Santiago Stock Exchange in Chile. The most valuable company in Latin America is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange: Fomento Económico Mexicano, a multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, had market cap of 177 billion U.S. dollars as of March 2025.

Bitcoin dominance steadily declined in April 2024 to below ** percent, amid rumors of central banks halting or potentially lowering interest rates in the future. Within the crypto world, this so-called "dominance" ratio is one of the oldest and most investigated metrics available. It measures the coin's market cap relative to the overall crypto market — effectively showing how strong Bitcoin compared to all the other cryptocurrencies that are not BTC, called "altcoins". Why dominance matters is because market caps of any crypto can change relatively quickly, either due to sudden price changes or a change of recorded trading volume. Essentially, the figure somewhat resembles a trading sentiment, revealing whether Bitcoin investors are responding to certain events or whether Bitcoin is losing out on functions offered by, for example, stablecoins or NFT tokens. "Dominance" criticism: Ethereum and stablecoin The interpretation of the Bitcoin metric is not without its criticism. When first conceived, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to be created and had a substantial market share within all cryptocurrencies? The overall share of stablecoins, such as Tether, as well as Ethereum increasingly start to resemble that of Bitcoin, however. Some analysts argue against this comparison. For one, they point towards the large influence of trading activity between Bitcoin and Ethereum in the dominance metric. Second, they argue that stablecoins can be traded in for Bitcoin and Ethereum, essentially showing how much investors are willing to engage with "regular" cryptocurrency. A rally around Bitcoin in late 2023? By December 2023, the Bitcoin price reached roughly 41,000 U.S. dollars — the first time in 20 months such a value was reached. A weaker U.S. dollar, speculation on decreasing interest rates, and a potential Bitcoin ETF approval are believed to be at the heart of this price increase. Whether this will hold in 2024 is unclear: The monthly interest rate from the U.S. Fed is speculated to decrease in 2024, despite a vow of "higher for longer". In December 2023, the thought of decreasing interest rates and the potential of a Bitcoin ETF fuelled market sentiment towards riskier assets.

UnitedHealth was to be the largest insurer globally as of February 2025, with market capitalization amounting to approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. UnitedHealth Group is a healthcare and insurance company headquartered in Minnesota. Global insurance industry - additional information Insurance is a form of risk management, where a person, called the insured or policyholder, signs a contract with a company, which is called an insurer or insurance carrier, in order to protect themselves from sudden losses. The contract between the two parties, called an insurance policy, states the circumstances and conditions under which the insured will be compensated. The major types of insurance are: life/health insurance and property/casualty insurance. The amount of money charged by an insurance company for active coverage is called an insurance premium and is most often paid in monthly installments. In 2022, the value of gross premiums generated by the global insurance industry amounted to more than *** trillion U.S. dollars. The United States was the ******* country in the insurance market in terms of value of life and non-life direct premiums written, with premiums estimated at **** trillion U.S. dollars for 2022. When ranking global insurers by their total assets, the Chinese insurance company Ping An Insurance placed first, with assets worth approximately *** trillion U.S. dollars. Ping An Insurance was also the company with the strongest brand value among insurance companies in 2023.

Tether and USD Coin form the majority of the overall stablecoin market, whilst algorithmic stablecoins are but a fraction of their size. Estimates are that Tether (USDT) alone - the most well-known stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar - makes up nearly half of the stablecoin market cap in June 2022. The top three of these digital assets are all connected to the performance of the U.S. dollar, with Dai (DAI) being pegged to a different cryptocurrency, its so-called governance token MKR or Maker. Algorithmic stablecoins - cryptocurrencies that do not use fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies as their backing but instead rely on an algorithm to keep their price stable, similar to the design of TerraUSD (UST) and Terra (LUNA) - do not feature in the top five. FRAX combines elements of an algorithmic design but still contains a partial backing by collateral.

As of January 2025, the largest all-time bankruptcy in the United States remained Lehman Brothers. The New York-based investment bank had assets worth 691 billion U.S. dollars when it filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. This event was one of the major points in the timeline of the Great Recession, as it was the first time a bank of its size had failed and had a domino effect on the global banking sector, as well as wiping almost five percent of the S&P 500 in one day. Bank failures in the U.S. In March 2023, for the first time since 2021, two banks collapsed in the United States. Both bank failures made the list of largest bankruptcies in terms of total assets lost: The failure of Silicon Valley Bank amounted to roughly 209 billion U.S. dollars worth of assets lost, while Signature Bank had approximately 110.4 billion U.S. dollars when it collapsed. These failures mark the second- and the third-largest bank failures in the U.S. since 2001. Unprofitable banks in the U.S. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank painted an alarming picture of the U.S. banking industry. In reality, however, the state of the industry was much better in 2022 than in earlier periods of economic downturns. The share of unprofitable banks, for instance, was 3.4 percent in 2022, which was an increase compared to 2021, but remained well below the share of unprofitable banks in 2020, let alone during the global financial crisis in 2008. The share of unprofitable banks in the U.S. peaked in 2009, when almost 30 percent of all FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions were unprofitable.

ExxonMobil ranks first among the United States' top ten oil and gas producing companies based on market capitalization. As of June 18, 2025, the Texas-based oil supermajor had a market cap of ****** billion U.S. dollars. ExxonMobil can not only trace its roots back to the early years of commercial oil production, it has also become one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. It is active in all areas of the supply chain, from hydrocarbon extraction to retailing of gasoline. What is market cap? As opposed to sales or assets, market capitalization is a metric used to determine a company’s size by the worth of their outstanding shares on the stock market. ExxonMobil often ranks as the leading oil and gas company based on market cap worldwide. However, its net income is often significantly lower than that of state-owned entities such as Saudi Aramco. The differing ratios exemplify how market cap is not a hard figure like net profits, but inflates and fluctuates according to the perceived value of a company, influenced by less quantifiable factors. The role of oil and gas in the world economy The oil and gas industry is involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transport, and marketing of hydrocarbons. Many industries are extremely dependent on oil and gas products, mostly in the form of fuels or raw materials for chemical products. The oil and gas industry is one of the largest worldwide, and it would follow that companies involved within the industry are among the top companies worldwide by revenue.

Transactions in NFTs were significantly lower in 2024 than during the summer of 2021 when several tokens gained popularity. Most of these transactions were likely related to play-to-earn Vietnamese video game Axie Infinity, which became the world's most valuable NFT collection in August 2021 - although its sales volume did decline since. The gaming segment reported the highest sales volume of the non-fungible token (NFT) market in 2020, with over *** times the sales in sports projects. The overall market cap of NFTs in 2024, however, was noticeably smaller. NFT in 2024: Searching for legitimacy While cryptocurrency and Bitcoin saw their interest surge in early 2024 after the acceptance of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, the NFT market has been struggling. For the larger audience, non-fungible tokens still seemed to be confusing what they are supposed to do, whereas crypto increasingly found legitimacy. The slowdown in the NFT market led one of the world's largest NFT marketplaces, OpenSea, to lay off large parts of its staff in October 2023. Solana to pave the way for NFTs? One of the blockchain networks that is closely affiliated with NFTs in 2024 is that of Solana. The monthly sales volume of this blockchain outperformed that of Ethereum in ************, causing Solana's market share in the overall crypto market to reach its highest value ever. Solana's position comes from relatively low costs but especially high transaction speeds and the sizable airdrops from multiple projects. This attracted significant amounts of capital, further fuelling the network. Solana's growth may provide the framework for the NFT market as a whole, as it slowly seeks to take over Ethereum's position in this part of the decentralized digital asset world.

As of December 31, 2024, the largest bank in the world in terms of market capitalization was the U.S.-based J*************. The American banking giant's market cap exceeded *** billion U.S. dollars, which was significantly higher than ***************'s, which ranked second with a market cap of approximately ****** billion U.S. dollars. ************** was also the largest bank in the United States in terms of total assets but ranked only fifth globally, behind four Chinese banks. What is market capitalization? Market capitalization, also known as stock market value, is the total value of issued shares of a publicly traded company. It is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. It applies only to publicly traded companies or companies that have made their stock market debut, also known as an initial public offering, or IPO. Due to the nature of the capitalist system and the practice of buying and selling stocks in public markets, market capitalization can be used as a proxy for the wider public’s opinion of a company’s net worth, making it therefore a determining factor in calculating other theoretical values of companies and their stocks, for example, stock valuation. How were banks affected by the coronavirus outbreak? The outbreak of the coronavirus left no industries unaffected and had a significant impact on the global financial markets. This can be seen in the banking industry, as the market capitalization of the largest banks worldwide dropped markedly between December 2019 and March 2020. For the largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, it was not until February 2021 that the market capitalization saw pre-pandemic figures again.

Decentralized Finance users reached a peak of **** million unique users in 2024, whereas figures in 2025 are considerably lower. This according to a network crawling code that tries to measure the number of unique user addresses involved in buying or selling specific projects associated with DeFi. For example, the code lists data fetching commands associated with Uniswap and Aave — two DeFi protocols with a market cap that was higher than one billion U.S. dollars in March 2022. As Decentralized Finance — much like cryptocurrencies or NFTs — are not being tracked by an official government, these procedures try to measure "network activity". Such activity on the Ethereum blockchain/network, the most used blockchain for DeFi, or elsewhere — tend to be the only source of information on the market size of these topics. However, the source does acknowledge the numbers shown are not without their potential flaws. DeFi in 2025 is relatively small-scale Often remarked as a potential breakthrough trend for 2024, the TVL (total value locked) of DeFi in 2025 reveals a market that is much smaller than in 2021. The amount of money stored in Decentralized Finance was worth about ** billion U.S. dollars by May 2025, compared to *** billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2021. Two reasons can be named for this decline. First, the overall cryptocurrency markets had witnessed several dramatic moments. Prices declined after the crash of stablecoin LUNA, and the sudden collapse of crypto exchange FTX in 2022. In 2023, the United States government handed out one of its largest ever corporates fines to Binance — the world's largest crypto exchange. Second, analysts believe the high yield on U.S. Treasury bonds in 2025 when compared to DeFi yields negatively impacted the young industry — as these bonds pose lower risk than DeFi. DeFi use cases: Supporting crypto investments Decentralized Finance hopes to offer different digital financial services, which are run by a community in a so-called decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) away from banks or governments. These services can include asset management, money lending, or trading, potentially making it possible to offer services that traditional finance cannot do. By May 2025, however, DeFi focused on two main use cases: Liquid staking and money lending. These processes are there to support crypto investors, specifically. The market size of insurance within Decentralized Finance, for example, was much smaller in comparison.