What Is TVL (Total Value Locked)?
Definition
TVL measures the total amount of cryptocurrency deposited into a DeFi protocol's smart contracts — it's the primary metric for comparing DeFi protocol size and adoption.
Total Value Locked (TVL) counts the dollar value of all tokens deposited in a protocol's smart contracts. A DEX like Raydium might have $500M TVL — meaning $500M worth of tokens are providing liquidity across all its pools.
- Protocol health — higher TVL = more liquidity = better trading experience
- Ecosystem growth — rising TVL signals increasing adoption
- Risk assessment — a token listed on a high-TVL DEX is more credible than one on a $10K TVL platform
When you create a liquidity pool on CoinDevTools, the tokens you deposit become part of that DEX's TVL. More initial liquidity = higher TVL contribution = better visibility on analytics platforms.
Related Terms
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
DeFi is a category of blockchain-based financial services that operate without banks or intermediaries — including lending, borrowing, trading, and earning yield through smart contracts.
Liquidity Pool
A liquidity pool is a pair of tokens locked in a smart contract that enables decentralized trading on automated market makers (AMMs) like Raydium and Uniswap.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
A DEX is a peer-to-peer exchange that enables cryptocurrency trading directly from your wallet without intermediaries, using smart contracts to match trades.