Total Value Locked (TVL)
Total value locked is the aggregate US dollar value of assets deposited in a protocol's or chain's contracts at a point in time.
TradFi parallel: Assets under management. It tells you how much capital has been entrusted to a manager, not how much that capital earns or how long it stays.
Key Takeaways
- 01Start with the definition: Total value locked is the aggregate US dollar value of assets deposited in a protocol's or chain's contracts at a point in time.
- 02Read the governing documentation before treating a label as a supply conclusion
- 03Separate scheduled entitlement, contractual transferability, and actual circulating supply
- 04Use dated on-chain or canonical data for any amount, percentage, or event date
- 05A buyback, unlock, burn, or reward label does not by itself establish the net supply effect
- 06Remove or qualify any project-specific conclusion that cannot be reproduced from a primary source
How It Works
Total value locked is the aggregate US dollar value of assets deposited in a protocol's or chain's contracts at a point in time.
The label alone does not establish a token's current supply impact. To evaluate total value locked (tvl), read the governing token documentation and contract rules, distinguish scheduled entitlement from tokens that are actually transferable or circulating, and use dated on-chain data for any quantity. Do not infer a burn, price effect, holder behavior, or release amount from the label alone.
When a claim depends on a figure, date, allocation, fee route, or prior market event, retain it only when the underlying primary document, governance record, contract state, or reproducible data snapshot is available. Otherwise state the mechanism generally and leave the project-specific conclusion out.
Real World Examples
Scenario 1: verify before concluding
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Use the project's published rules, the relevant contract or governance record, and a dated supply snapshot. Keep only conclusions that those records directly support.
Scenario 2: verify before concluding
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Use the project's published rules, the relevant contract or governance record, and a dated supply snapshot. Keep only conclusions that those records directly support.
Scenario 3: verify before concluding
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Use the project's published rules, the relevant contract or governance record, and a dated supply snapshot. Keep only conclusions that those records directly support.
Scenario 4: verify before concluding
View →
Use the project's published rules, the relevant contract or governance record, and a dated supply snapshot. Keep only conclusions that those records directly support.
Scenario 5: verify before concluding
View →
Use the project's published rules, the relevant contract or governance record, and a dated supply snapshot. Keep only conclusions that those records directly support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is TVL the same as market cap?
Check the governing documentation, contract state, and dated on-chain or canonical data. The answer depends on the project's specific rules and current supply state, so do not infer it from the label alone.
Does high TVL mean the protocol makes money?
Check the governing documentation, contract state, and dated on-chain or canonical data. The answer depends on the project's specific rules and current supply state, so do not infer it from the label alone.
Why does TVL fall when nothing about the protocol changed?
Check the governing documentation, contract state, and dated on-chain or canonical data. The answer depends on the project's specific rules and current supply state, so do not infer it from the label alone.
How does TVL fit into unlock analysis?
Check the governing documentation, contract state, and dated on-chain or canonical data. The answer depends on the project's specific rules and current supply state, so do not infer it from the label alone.
Related Terms
Track on Tokenomist
Supply-side analysis for educational purposes. Not financial advice. Verify assumption and precision labels on the relevant token page.
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