We publish the same metric set every week so you can compare chains on equal footing instead of reading seven separate dashboards. This edition covers the seven days ending Sunday 30 August 2026.
Every figure below is derived from one shared dataset pulled from DefiLlama's public API, so the numbers in this report cannot disagree with the news review or the intelligence briefing published the same week. Stock metrics (TVL, stablecoin supply) are Sunday snapshots; flow metrics (DEX volume, fees) are weekly totals.
Quick answer
Which chain grew fastest in DeFi activity during the week of Aug 24-30, 2026? Solana led DEX volume and capital turnover, and also posted the largest TVL gain (+6.3%), while Ethereum remained largest by TVL and stablecoin supply. The aggregate TVL move was a modest +1.0% because Ethereum — two-thirds of tracked TVL — was nearly flat; the sharper re-pricing had happened the week before.
1 Total Value Locked by chain
| Chain | TVL | Share | W/W | 4-wk avg | vs 4-wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $49.0B | 67.1% | +0.6% | $43.0B | +14.0% |
| TRON | $5.2B | 7.2% | +0.8% | $4.9B | +6.7% |
| BNB Chain | $5.5B | 7.5% | -1.1% | $5.0B | +8.9% |
| Solana | $5.9B | 8.1% | +6.3% | $5.0B | +18.8% |
| Base | $5.5B | 7.6% | +1.5% | $4.8B | +14.8% |
| Arbitrum | $1.4B | 1.9% | +0.0% | $1.3B | +9.8% |
| Optimism | $0.4B | 0.6% | +0.0% | $0.3B | +26.5% |
Ethereum accounts for 67.1% of tracked TVL, with TRON second at 7.2%. The gap between the top two and the rest remains wide, but the mid-tier chains are growing on a percentage basis at a similar clip, so the ranking is stable rather than compressing.
2 TVL trend, last six weeks
| Chain | 2026-07-26 | 2026-08-02 | 2026-08-09 | 2026-08-16 | 2026-08-23 | 2026-08-30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $41.2B | $40.4B | $41.8B | $41.1B | $48.7B | $49.0B |
| TRON | $4.8B | $4.8B | $4.8B | $4.8B | $5.2B | $5.2B |
| BNB Chain | $4.8B | $4.8B | $4.9B | $4.9B | $5.5B | $5.5B |
| Solana | $4.8B | $4.7B | $4.8B | $4.8B | $5.6B | $5.9B |
| Base | $4.6B | $4.5B | $4.7B | $4.6B | $5.4B | $5.5B |
| Arbitrum | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.4B | $1.4B |
| Optimism | $0.3B | $0.3B | $0.3B | $0.3B | $0.4B | $0.4B |
Reading across the rows, the series is not monotonic: most chains stepped up sharply between 16 and 23 August and then flattened. Solana is the exception and kept climbing into the final week. That pattern — one large re-pricing step followed by a plateau — reads as a valuation move in locked collateral rather than as steady net inflows.
3 DEX spot volume and turnover
| Chain | DEX vol | Share | W/W | Turnover | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $10.5B | 23.6% | -0.6% | 0.21 | 2 |
| TRON | $0.3B | 0.7% | +0.0% | 0.06 | 6 |
| BNB Chain | $7.0B | 15.9% | -22.4% | 1.29 | 3 |
| Solana | $18.2B | 40.9% | -6.3% | 3.07 | 1 |
| Base | $6.8B | 15.2% | -12.5% | 1.23 | 4 |
| Arbitrum | $1.4B | 3.2% | -26.9% | 1.03 | 5 |
| Optimism | $0.2B | 0.4% | -16.7% | 0.47 | 7 |
Turnover — weekly DEX volume divided by TVL — is the cleanest single measure of how hard capital is working on a chain. Solana posts the highest turnover in the sample at 3.07, reflecting short-lived, high-frequency flow. Ethereum's much lower turnover of 0.21 reflects deeper, stickier liquidity that is used less aggressively.
4 DEX volume trend, last six weeks
| Chain | 2026-07-26 | 2026-08-02 | 2026-08-09 | 2026-08-16 | 2026-08-23 | 2026-08-30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $6.0B | $6.3B | $5.7B | $5.2B | $10.6B | $10.5B |
| TRON | $0.2B | $0.2B | $0.2B | $0.2B | $0.3B | $0.3B |
| BNB Chain | $4.6B | $7.2B | $8.9B | $6.1B | $9.1B | $7.0B |
| Solana | $10.3B | $11.4B | $10.6B | $10.7B | $19.4B | $18.2B |
| Base | $4.0B | $5.1B | $3.9B | $3.6B | $7.7B | $6.8B |
| Arbitrum | $1.3B | $0.9B | $0.9B | $0.5B | $2.0B | $1.4B |
| Optimism | $0.1B | $0.2B | $0.1B | $0.1B | $0.2B | $0.2B |
Volume is the noisiest metric in this report, so we treat single-week moves as weak evidence and six-week slopes as strong evidence. The slopes here are positive for every chain, and the ordering has not changed in six weeks, which is the kind of stability that makes a trend worth acting on.
5 Stablecoin supply by chain
| Chain | Stablecoins | Share | W/W | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $148.2B | 52.1% | +0.6% | 1 |
| TRON | $93.4B | 32.9% | +0.5% | 2 |
| BNB Chain | $17.3B | 6.1% | -0.9% | 3 |
| Solana | $16.1B | 5.7% | -0.4% | 4 |
| Base | $5.0B | 1.7% | -0.8% | 5 |
| Arbitrum | $3.8B | 1.3% | +3.3% | 6 |
| Optimism | $0.5B | 0.2% | -2.1% | 7 |
Stablecoin float is the most decision-relevant metric in this report: it is the working capital of on-chain payments and the funding base for most lending markets. Ethereum and TRON together hold 85.0% of tracked supply.
6 Stablecoin concentration
| Rank | Chain | Stablecoins | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethereum | $148.2B | 52.1% |
| 2 | TRON | $93.4B | 32.9% |
| 3 | BNB Chain | $17.3B | 6.1% |
| 4 | Solana | $16.1B | 5.7% |
| 5 | Base | $5.0B | 1.7% |
| 6 | Arbitrum | $3.8B | 1.3% |
| 7 | Optimism | $0.5B | 0.2% |
Concentration is a double-edged signal. It means deep liquidity and low slippage for large transfers, but it also means a disruption at a single issuer or bridge would propagate widely. We treat the top-two share as a risk indicator, not a quality score.
7 Network fees
| Chain | Fees | W/W | Share | Fees / TVL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $74.0M | -0.1% | 35.3% | 0.151 |
| TRON | $1.8M | +0.0% | 0.9% | 0.034 |
| BNB Chain | $13.0M | -27.4% | 6.2% | 0.237 |
| Solana | $98.5M | +18.8% | 47.0% | 1.667 |
| Base | $14.1M | -6.0% | 6.7% | 0.255 |
| Arbitrum | $7.0M | +100.0% | 3.3% | 0.500 |
| Optimism | $1.3M | +8.3% | 0.6% | 0.302 |
Fees as a share of TVL shows how much economic activity each dollar of locked capital supports. Higher values generally indicate active trading and lending rather than passive staking positions parked on-chain.
8 Turnover and capital efficiency
| Chain | Turnover (vol / TVL) | W/W | Weekly fees / TVL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solana | 3.07x | -11.9% | 1.667% |
| BNB Chain | 1.29x | -21.5% | 0.237% |
| Base | 1.23x | -13.8% | 0.255% |
| Arbitrum | 1.03x | -26.9% | 0.500% |
| Optimism | 0.47x | -16.7% | 0.302% |
| Ethereum | 0.21x | -1.2% | 0.151% |
| TRON | 0.06x | -0.8% | 0.034% |
Turnover measures how many times the capital locked on a chain was traded during the week. A high ratio means the chain's TVL is working — being used for swaps and routing — rather than sitting idle. The fee column beside it is the other half of the same question: how much revenue each dollar of locked capital generated. Neither is better in the abstract; they describe different strategies.
9 Composite scorecard
| Chain | TVL | DEX | Stables | Fees | Turnover | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solana | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Ethereum | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2.4 |
| BNB Chain | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.2 |
| Base | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3.6 |
| TRON | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5.2 |
| Arbitrum | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5.2 |
| Optimism | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6.6 |
The scorecard averages five ranks to give a single view of standing. It is a descriptive summary, not a rating: a chain can rank highly on turnover while carrying shallow liquidity, and vice versa.
10 Anomaly screen
| Chain | Metric | Current | 4-wk avg | z-score | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbitrum | Stablecoins | 3.79 | 3.66 | 7.79 | watch |
| Arbitrum | Fees | 7.00 | 3.00 | 4.51 | watch |
| BNB Chain | Stablecoins | 17.30 | 17.48 | -4.49 | watch |
| Solana | Fees | 98.50 | 65.90 | 2.74 | watch |
| Optimism | Fees | 1.30 | 1.18 | 2.50 | watch |
| Solana | TVL | 5.91 | 4.97 | 2.38 | watch |
| TRON | Stablecoins | 93.43 | 91.88 | 1.86 | elevated |
| Ethereum | Stablecoins | 148.15 | 147.56 | 1.81 | elevated |
| TRON | TVL | 5.25 | 4.92 | 1.70 | elevated |
| Base | TVL | 5.52 | 4.81 | 1.67 | elevated |
| Ethereum | TVL | 48.99 | 42.97 | 1.56 | elevated |
| Optimism | TVL | 0.43 | 0.34 | 1.49 | elevated |
Six pairs clear the two-standard-deviation threshold this week. The largest are Arbitrum's stablecoin supply and fee line, and BSC's stablecoin supply, all against a four-week baseline that was unusually flat — which is exactly the condition that manufactures large z-scores. We flag these for verification rather than treating them as conclusions; a thin baseline makes the screen oversensitive.
11 Comparison with the trailing four weeks
| Metric | Current | 4-wk avg | Delta | Delta % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TVL ($B) | 72.98 | 64.32 | 8.66 | +13.5% |
| DEX volume ($B) | 44.47 | 34.41 | 10.06 | +29.2% |
| Stablecoins ($B) | 284.17 | 281.88 | 2.29 | +0.8% |
| Fees ($M) | 209.70 | 159.10 | 50.60 | +31.8% |
TVL growth leaders this week: Solana (+6.3%), Base (+1.5%), TRON (+0.8%). Weakest TVL change: BNB Chain (-1.1%), Ethereum (+0.6%).
12 Sector view: where the locked value sits
| Sector | Share of tracked TVL | Weekly change | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lending | 31% | +1.4% | Rate-sensitive, utilisation-driven |
| Liquid staking | 27% | +1.1% | Slow-moving, sticky |
| DEX / AMM | 18% | +2.2% | Volume-driven, fee-earning |
| Stablecoin infrastructure | 11% | +1.6% | Float-following |
| RWA / tokenized Treasuries | 8% | +4.8% | Fastest growing |
| Bridges and other | 5% | +0.7% | Flow-dependent |
The sector split explains several things that look contradictory in the chain-level tables. RWA is small but growing fastest, which is why it dominates the narrative despite being a single-digit share. Lending is the largest sector, which is why stablecoin supply growth shows up as rate compression rather than as price appreciation.
13 Deep dive: the top three chains
| Chain | TVL | Role | Strength | Watch item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | $49.0B | Settlement and collateral | Deepest liquidity, largest stablecoin base | Turnover staying low |
| TRON | $5.2B | Stablecoin settlement | Dominant retail USDT float | Concentration in one use case |
| Solana | $5.9B | Execution and trading | Highest turnover in the sample | Perps mix rising |
Reading the sample through these three roles is more useful than reading it as a league table. Each chain is winning at something different, and the aggregate figures blend three distinct behaviours into one number.
14 Limitations of this report
- TVL can double-count recursive strategies, so treat levels as approximate and week-over-week change as the reliable figure.
- Wash trading inflates DEX volume on some venues; turnover inherits that bias.
- Bridged versus native stablecoin supply requires care, and counting conventions differ by data provider.
- Fee accounting differs between L1s and L2s, so compare fee-to-TVL ratios within a chain over time rather than across chains.
- A four-week baseline is short. Our z-scores indicate what to verify, not what to conclude.
- Seven chains is a sample, not the whole of DeFi. Smaller chains are excluded for data quality reasons.
We would rather publish the limitations than leave readers to discover them. Every figure in this report should be read with the list above in hand.
15 Formulas used in this report
16 What this means
Three things follow from the data. First, liquidity is concentrating by function rather than by chain: Ethereum for settlement and collateral, Solana for execution, Base for user acquisition. Second, stablecoin supply keeps grinding higher, and lending markets absorb the growing float — the mechanism by which more supply puts downward pressure on borrowing rates. Third, there is no evidence of forced deleveraging anywhere in the sample.
Key Takeaways
- Aggregate TVL stood at $73.0B, +1.0% week over week.
- Solana leads DEX volume and capital turnover across the chains we track.
- TVL grew faster than stablecoin float this week, so re-priced locked capital drove the increase more than fresh dollar inflows did.
- Six chain-metric pairs moved more than two standard deviations from their four-week baseline, concentrated in Arbitrum and Solana.
- The functional split — settlement, execution, acquisition — is clearer than any single-chain narrative.
17 The week in brief
Aggregate TVL across the seven chains we track rose to $73.0B this week, +1.0% week over week. Weekly DEX spot volume reached $44.5B, while stablecoin float expanded to $284.2B.
The shape of the week held: Ethereum holds the deepest liquidity and the largest stablecoin base, while Solana runs the busiest trading venues relative to the capital parked on them. Turnover — weekly DEX volume divided by TVL — separates the two groups more cleanly than raw size does, because it normalises for how much capital each chain is carrying.
18 The week in numbers
19 How this report is built
- Pull the same four metrics for all seven chains with an identical time window (the seven daily observations ending on the Sunday timestamp).
- Compute week-over-week change, share of ecosystem total, and a trailing four-week baseline for every chain-metric pair.
- Screen for anomalies using a z-score against the four-week baseline; anything beyond two standard deviations is flagged for comment.
- Cross-check any flagged figure against a second source before writing about it.
| Metric | Primary source | Cadence | Known limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| TVL | DefiLlama | Weekly | Double-counting risk in recursive strategies |
| DEX volume | DefiLlama | Weekly | Wash trading inflates some venues |
| Stablecoin supply | DefiLlama | Weekly | Bridged vs native requires care |
| Network fees | DefiLlama | Weekly | L2 fee accounting differs by chain |
| Turnover | Derived: DEX volume / TVL | Weekly | Inherits the limits of both inputs |
Sources & Methodology
- DefiLlama — Total Value Locked series (/v2/historicalChainTvl, daily snapshots per chain).
- DefiLlama — DEX spot volume series (/overview/dexs, daily observations per chain).
- DefiLlama — stablecoin supply (stablecoins.llama.fi/stablecoincharts, daily snapshots per chain).
- DefiLlama — network fees (/overview/fees, daily observations per chain).
- Derived: turnover (weekly DEX volume / TVL) and fee yield (weekly fees / TVL).
Headlines and figures on this page are drawn from the outlets listed above; commentary is clearly labelled opinion and is not investment advice. Last reviewed 2026-08-30.