DappRadar's latest data shows that the decentralized application (DApp) industry had mixed results in the third quarter of 2025. Decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity surged to an all-time high, but user activity saw a significant decline.
DappRadar noted in a report submitted to Cointelegraph that the average number of daily unique active wallets in the third quarter was 18.7 million, a decrease of 22.4% compared to the second quarter. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols locked a total of $237 billion, marking a historical record for the sector.
The report emphasized the ongoing divergence between institutional capital inflows into blockchain financial platforms and retail user participation in DApps. Despite the total value locked in DeFi reaching a new liquidity high, overall activity lagged, indicating weak retail user engagement.
DappRadar stated, "Throughout the quarter, active wallets across all categories saw a decline, with the main impact concentrated in the social and AI categories." The daily average number of users for AI DApps dropped from 4.8 million in the second quarter to 3.1 million in the third quarter, a reduction of over 1.7 million. The daily average number of users for SocialFi DApps fell from 3.8 million in the second quarter to 1.5 million in the third quarter.
DappRadar believes that the record DeFi liquidity was influenced by multiple factors, including increased institutional participation in Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins, a clearer regulatory environment brought about by the U.S. GENIUS Act, and new infrastructure driving the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).
DappRadar stated that stablecoins have become a bridge between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. Cointelegraph previously reported that stablecoin inflows reached $46 billion in the third quarter, primarily driven by Tether's USDt (USDT) and Circle's USDC (USDC).
In addition to stablecoins themselves, platforms focused on stablecoins are continuously emerging, further boosting the growth of the total value locked in DeFi.
DappRadar pointed out that the Layer 1 chain Plasma, designed specifically for stablecoins, exceeded $8 billion in total value locked in its first month of launch.
In this quarter, Ethereum continued to maintain its leading position in the DeFi network, with locked assets reaching $119 billion, although this was a slight decrease of 4% compared to the second quarter. Solana, ranked second, saw its total value locked in DeFi drop by 33% in the third quarter, falling to $13.8 billion.
The BNB chain, ranked third, saw its locked assets grow by 15% this quarter.
DappRadar believes that the increase in the total value locked in the BNB chain is primarily due to the launch of the decentralized perpetual contract exchange Aster, which received widespread attention in September.
Although Aster experienced a surge in trading volume in the perpetual trading sector, data aggregation platform DefiLlama expressed doubts about the integrity of Aster's data.
DefiLlama co-founder 0xngmi pointed out that Aster's trading volume was almost completely synchronized with Binance's perpetual contract trading volume, leading DefiLlama to delist Aster from its website.
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Original article: “DappRadar: DeFi Total Locked Value (TVL) Hits New High of $237 Billion, Daily Active Wallets Down 22% in Q3”
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