Has the DeFi Decline Reversed? DeFi has had a rough first half of the year, with a record number of hacks and exploits draining close to $1 billion from platforms across the sector. This comes as crypto overall grinds through a prolonged bear market, in sharp contrast to equities, adding further pressure on DeFi protocols. Still, there are signs the worst may be over. The CryptoRank chart shows July brought a small uptick in total DeFi TVL after months of decline. TVL had fallen from $154B in October 2025 to $70B by June 2026, then rose 5.3% in July to $73B.(Lark Davis)