2026-01-12 23:34:53

Ethereum's 2025 story reads like a paradox: total value locked dropped, DeFi activity cooled, and liquidity concentrated in fewer top protocols. Yet despite the shrinking capital base, the network generated record revenues.

What's really happening? Ethereum isn't losing relevance—it's consolidating. As it matured into the world's default global settlement layer, the market naturally pruned less efficient protocols. Capital moved where it matters most.

The year revealed a maturing ecosystem. Smaller, speculative projects faded while core infrastructure strengthened. TVL might be down, but the quality and stickiness of capital improved dramatically. Ethereum's position as the backbone for cross-chain settlement and institutional adoption only deepened.

2025 proved one thing: in crypto, growth isn't always linear, but infrastructure that delivers real value becomes indispensable.

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0xLostKey

· 01-15 23:32

This article is correct; quality > quantity. It should have been like this a long time ago.

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gaslight_gasfeez

· 01-15 05:27

The TVL decline record, but the revenue is hitting new highs... This logic is a bit crazy.

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GateUser-ccc36bc5

· 01-14 17:05

People panicking over TVL decline haven't understood that Ethereum has long become an infrastructure.

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DAOplomacy

· 01-13 00:02

ngl the "consolidation not decline" framing is arguably the most convenient narrative we could've landed on... but sub-optimal incentive structures around smaller protocols probably did accelerate the pruning tbh. historical precedent suggests this path dependency hits different when institutional capital starts calling the shots, y'know?

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GasFeeCrier

· 01-13 00:01

A decline in TVL is not a bad thing. Trash projects should just die, and this way, it’s healthier.

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SlowLearnerWang

· 01-12 23:59

Oh wow, I just realized... TVL has dropped, but revenue is hitting new highs? I really didn't see this logic coming.

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YieldHunter

· 01-12 23:57

nah look, if you actually run the numbers on risk-adjusted metrics here, the tvl drop is just degens getting liquidated. real capital stickiness tho? that's the play. fewer shitcoins farming yields means less correlation noise in the data

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MondayYoloFridayCry

· 01-12 23:55

TVL is decreasing but revenue is hitting new highs. To put it simply, only the real money remains, and trash projects are dead or dying.

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MEVictim

· 01-12 23:40

TVL decreases but revenue hits new highs? That logic is a bit crazy, it feels like natural selection after garbage protocols die out.

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WhaleSurfer

· 01-12 23:40

Honestly, TVL is declining but revenue is hitting new highs, this contrast is really quite brutal. It feels like a big wave washing away the sand, and trash projects really should be cleared out. --- Is Ethereum running on old capital? No, it should be said that it's running on real gold and silver. Those speculative projects have dispersed, and what is truly valuable is actually more resilient. --- I remember around this time last year, some people were calling Ethereum's decline, but what about now... still here. --- Quality > Quantity, this logic is clear. But the problem is, how do small investors know which ones are truly quality and which might be the next big disaster? --- So the TVL number is actually quite misleading; looking at real income and liquidity quality is the real way to go. --- By the way, are institutions really on-chain, or are they still just arbitraging derivatives? --- I believe in strong infrastructure, but whether this cycle can bring retail investors on board—that's the key.

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