Recently, DeFi lock-up data has indeed been loosening. Ethereum dropped from its high of $97.3 billion in August last year to $72.7 billion now, a decline of over 25%. The situation is even more severe for Solana — from $13.2 billion directly down to $8.86 billion, shrinking by more than one-third. Binance Smart Chain is also not doing well, falling from $8.99 billion to $6.79 billion.

The logic behind this is actually easy to understand. During a bull market, everyone’s eyes turn red—mining, providing liquidity, and various forms of aggressive growth. Once a bear market blows in, funds immediately retreat, and those projects that relied on hype naturally collapse.

But from another perspective, the decline in TVL may not be entirely a bad thing. This process is like metabolism in nature—bubbles are squeezed out, and sediments settle. Projects that are truly competitive can survive and accumulate real users and traffic. When the next bull market starts to rise, these veteran projects that have endured the winter will appear especially resilient. At this stage, instead of rushing to get on board, it’s better to stay calm, observe carefully, and leave room for research.