Base Overtakes Tron with $6.6B in DeFi Deposits

- TVL milestone establishes Base as fifth-largest blockchain. - Integration with Morpho and Aave drives rapid adoption. According to reports from Cryptopolitan and DL News on August 20, 2025, Coinbase's Base blockchain has surpassed Tron to become the fifth-largest blockchain by Total Value Locked (TVL), holding over $6.6 billion in decentralized finance (DeFi) deposits. This significant growth has been fueled by strategic integrations with DeFi protocols and strong ecosystem support from Coinbase. Partnerships with DeFi protocols Morpho and Aave have largely driven Base’s rapid rise in TVL, as they account for over 60% of its deposits combined. Morpho alone contributed nearly $1 billion by leveraging its unique ability to let users borrow stablecoins against their Bitcoin holdings. Moreover, since January, these integrations and broader network activity have fueled a 52% increase in DeFi adoption across the blockchain sector. Coinbase's active support is another key factor in Base's success, highlighted by the company's introduction of a proprietary mobile app that streamlines user adoption by promoting fast, low-cost transactions. Coinciding with its second anniversary, Base has reported remarkable metrics over the last year: TVL within smart contracts surged 8,781% to $4.46 billion, active users rose 1,280% to 1.25 million, and daily transactions grew by over 2,000%. In addition, network fees decreased by nearly 50% to an average of $0.005 per transaction, which further bolstered usage and accessibility. However, Base has also confronted technical challenges. On August 5, the network experienced a brief 30-minute outage when a configuration error prevented a failover to a backup sequencer during heightened traffic. Developers have since implemented measures to ensure greater technical resilience. In April, the Ethereum Foundation marked a key developmental milestone for Base by recognizing its decentralized network with "Phase 1" status. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged the achievement, stating that it positions Base among the leading blockchains for DeFi applications and perpetual decentralized exchange trading. According to CoinMarketCap data on August 20 at 18:08 UTC, Aave (AAVE) was trading at $292.78, with a 4.81% increase in 24-hour volume. Meanwhile, Morpho (MORPHO) was priced at $2.18, reflecting a 5.79% jump in trading activity, and Tron (TRX) was priced at $0.35, with a modest 0.37% change in volume.