Ethereum’s Oct. 31 DeFi estimate was $43.997 billion, a dollar figure for assets counted across protocols.
Total value locked (TVL) assigns a dollar value to assets counted across protocols at a point in time. It does not record Ether (ETH) moving into or out of contracts. Dividing $43.997 billion by $2,253 per Ether would produce a hypothetical ETH equivalent, not a count of coins in contracts or proof that transfers occurred.
The historical series leaves liquid-staking positions out and removes duplicate value from the total. Asset-price changes can move the dollar total even when token balances remain unchanged, so a TVL change alone does not establish net deposits or withdrawals. EconoTimes has explained how DeFi TVL rankings can diverge from net deposit changes.
No observation hour accompanies the Oct. 31 TVL figure, leaving its timing relative to the $2,253 Ether quote unspecified.
