What Is Total Value Locked?
Total Value Locked (TVL) is a metric used to measure the total amount of digital assets deposited in a blockchain protocol or ecosystem. It is most commonly used in decentralized finance (DeFi) to indicate how much value users have committed to smart contracts for activities such as lending, borrowing, staking, or providing liquidity.
TVL is typically calculated by adding up the value of all assets locked in a protocol and expressing it in a common unit, often US dollars. A higher TVL can suggest stronger user participation, liquidity, and trust in a platform, though it does not guarantee security or performance. TVL can also fluctuate due to asset price changes, user behavior, or shifts in market conditions.
While TVL is mainly a DeFi-focused metric, it helps users understand how value moves on-chain across networks. KAST interacts with blockchain ecosystems where TVL reflects active on-chain usage, allowing users to move stablecoins from decentralized environments into real-world spending.
