TVL’s King Ethereum: Numbers Prove the Real Value
3-Point Summary
- TVL is the most reliable metric for valuing crypto, and Ethereum holds a dominant 57.01% share.
- Stablecoins, RWA tokenization, sovereign wealth funds, and AI agents are driving sustained TVL growth on Ethereum.
- A TVL-based fair value model shows most major coins are significantly overvalued relative to Ethereum.
TVL reveals the true depth of on-chain capital — and Ethereum remains at the center of it.
50-Second Shorts Video
Watch the 50-second video to understand why TVL defines real crypto value before diving into the full analysis below.
TVL Rules Crypto Valuation
— And Ethereum Sits at the Center
In the crypto market, prices swing wildly, new L1s appear, and narratives constantly shift.
But in the end, one core metric for valuing crypto does not change.
“How much capital actually stays in that ecosystem?”
In other words, TVL (Total Value Locked) is the real signal.
And that signal still points clearly to Ethereum.
In today’s Daily Crypto Times piece, we:
- Review TVL market share by chain
- Build a fair value model based on ETH TVL and supply
- Estimate fair value for major coins
- Compare fair value vs. current market prices
to quantitatively answer: “Why is Ethereum still the benchmark of on-chain economic value?”
1. Latest TVL data: Ethereum’s overwhelming dominance
Looking at the on-chain TVL structure, Ethereum holds 57.01% of total TVL, securing a clearly dominant first place.
It is followed by Solana (6.02%), BNB Chain (5.66%), Tron (5.15%), Bitcoin (5.08%), Base (4.46%), and Arbitrum (2.03%).
In other words, Ethereum alone accounts for more than half of total TVL,
and even if you combine chains ranked 2nd to 10th, they still cannot match Ethereum’s liquidity depth.
2. Why Ethereum’s TVL keeps growing
The reasons behind Ethereum’s steadily rising TVL are clear. Stablecoins form the foundation of the on-chain economy, and RWA tokenization is bringing traditional financial capital onto Ethereum. On top of that, growing interest from sovereign wealth funds is creating long-term capital flows, while AI agents are emerging as new on-chain participants that automatically deploy and manage capital.
All of these factors together act as a structural engine pulling large-scale institutional capital into Ethereum.
3. TVL-based fair value model
“What if total market value were allocated strictly by TVL share?”
We take Ethereum as the reference point and use each chain’s TVL share and token supply to derive a fair value (FV) for each coin.
The proportional relationship we use is:
ETH price × ETH supply : Coin fair value × Coin supply = 57.01 : X
Here, 57.01 is Ethereum’s TVL share, and X is the TVL share of the target coin.
From this, the final fair value formula becomes:
Coin fair value = (ETH price × ETH supply × X) ÷ (57.01 × Coin supply)
This model mathematically encodes the idea that “the share of capital actually locked on-chain represents the rightful value of each chain.”
4. Data used for the calculation
Token supply + TVL share (%)
- SOL: 624,120,000, 6.02%
- BNB: 136,350,000, 5.66%
- TRX: 94,764,493,662, 5.15%
- BTC: 20,013,740, 5.08%
- ARB: 10,000,000,000, 2.03%
ETH reference values
- ETH price: 2,250 USD
- ETH supply: 120,691,092
5. Fair value (FV) results
| Coin | Fair Value (USD) |
|---|---|
| SOL | 45.6 |
| BNB | 196.4 |
| TRX | 0.026 |
| BTC | 1,207 |
| ARB | 0.96 |
6. Overvalued vs. undervalued relative to current prices
Current market prices (input):
- SOL: 85 USD
- BNB: 604 USD
- TRX: 0.3189 USD
- BTC: 72,875 USD
- ARB: 0.12 USD
Final overvaluation/undervaluation table
| Coin | Fair Value (USD) | Current Price (USD) | Status | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOL | 45.6 | 85 | Overvalued | +86.4% |
| BNB | 196.4 | 604 | Overvalued | +207.6% |
| TRX | 0.026 | 0.3189 | Overvalued | +1,126% |
| BTC | 1,207 | 72,875 | Overvalued | +5,935% |
| ARB | 0.96 | 0.12 | Undervalued | –87.5% |
7. Key conclusions
Applying the ETH-based TVL & supply fair value model:
- BTC is trading at roughly 59× its fair value
- TRX is about 12× overvalued
- BNB is about 3× overvalued
- SOL is about 1.86× overvalued
- ARB is the only one that appears ~87% undervalued
What this model tells us
- TVL reflects the true depth of capital committed to a chain.
- Ethereum, with 57% of total TVL, remains the benchmark for on-chain value.
- Most major coins look significantly overvalued relative to ETH on a TVL basis.
- The ETH-centric liquidity structure is likely to persist.
8. Closing — Daily Crypto Times View
Today’s analysis is not just a price comparison.
The TVL-based fair value model clearly illustrates a structural view: the share of capital truly locked on-chain is what determines each chain’s “rightful value.”
Through this lens, we can:
- Identify which chains are heavily overvalued relative to their on-chain capital,
- Spot those that appear undervalued,
- And understand why Ethereum remains the reference point for the on-chain economy.
Price is market noise.
TVL is the signal left by capital flows.
And that signal still points, consistently, to Ethereum.
Younchan Jung
Researcher exploring structural shifts in AI, blockchain, and the on‑chain economy.
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