Economic instability along with a significant breach at a cryptocurrency exchange led to a decrease in the overall value locked within decentralized finance (DeFi) systems to $156 billion during the initial three months of 2025. However, artificial intelligence applications and social platforms saw an increase in user engagement, as reported by a leading crypto analysis company.
"Greater financial unpredictability and ongoing repercussions from the Bybit hack" were the primary reasons for the 27% decline in TVL within the DeFi sector compared to the previous quarter. according According to a report from DappRadar released on April 3, which pointed out that Ether ( ETH ) dropped 45% to $1,820 during the same timeframe.
The largest blockchain by TVL, Ethereum dropped 37% to reach a valuation of $96 billion, whereas Sui experienced the steepest decline among the leading ten blockchains based on total value locked (TVL), plummeting 44% to stand at $2 billion.
Solana, Tron and the Arbitrum blockchains Also saw their TVLs reduced by more than 30%.
At the same time, blockchains that saw higher volumes of DeFi withdrawals and held a lesser proportion of stablecoins within their protocols encountered additional stress beyond the declining token values.
The newly launched Berachain remained the sole top-10 blockchain by total value locked (TVL) to increase, amassing $5.17 billion from February 6 to March 31, as reported by DappRadar.
The market decline did not hinder the growth of users for AI and social apps.
Nevertheless, according to DappRadar’s data, the quantity of daily unique active wallets (DUAW) engaging with artificial intelligence protocols and social applications rose by 29% and 10%, correspondingly, during Q1. In contrast, non-fungible token and GameFi protocols experienced a decline.
The monthly average for DUAW engagement with AI and social protocols increased to 2.6 million and 2.8 million respectively, whereas DeFi and GameFi protocols experienced a decline of over ten percent.
DappRadar mentioned "explosive growth" in AI agent protocols, indicating that these systems have moved beyond just being an idea.
"Their presence is influencing and molding new user behaviors," stated the company.
Related: Avalanche stablecoins have surged by 70%, reaching $2.5 billion, but AVAX demand is lacking in decentralized finance deployments.
Meanwhile, NFT trading volume dropped 25% to $1.5 billion, with OKX’s NFT marketplace generating the the highest sales reached $606 million, While OpenSea andBlur each witnessed transactions worth $599 million and $565 million, respectively.
The Pudgy Penguins NFTs were the top-selling collectibles, with sales totaling $177 million. CryptoPunks NFTs DappRadar reported that they earned $63.6 million from only 477 sales.
When examining leading collections, CryptoPunks continues to be a cornerstone—its reputation stays strong despite price volatility making it mostly out of reach for typical users.
Magazine: The victory for XRP leaves Ripple as a 'reckless participant' with no legal precedents established in thecrypto realm.