The decentralized finance sector continues to accuse total steam ahead as multiple tokens notch new all-time highs and the full value locked in DeFi protocols grows with the passing of each calendar week.

Data from Messari shows projects like AAVE, Uniswap (UNI), SushiSwap (SUSHI) and Synthetix (SNX) have all rallied by double-digits, creating a positive feedback loop equally more than users engage with the protocols to yield subcontract and capitalize on flash loans.

DeFi nugget performance. Source: Messari

As the toll of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) has reached new highs in contempo months, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has risen as well, increasing optimism and appointment on the diverse decentralized exchanges and lending platforms. Data from CoinGecko shows that in the past 6 months, DeFi's full market capitalization has grown to $45 billion.

Total market cap of all DeFi tokens. Source: CoinGecko

From Jan. 1 to Jan. 25, DeFi platforms collectively saw the TVL rise from $15.6 billion to a tape-high $26.one billion.

In fact, co-ordinate to DeFi Pulse, the total value locked across DeFi protocols has increased from $21.49 billion to $26.173 billion in the past four days alone.

This sharp increase in TVL was helped past a $400 surge in the cost of Ether from $1,053 on Jan. 21 to a new all-time high of $one,459 on Jan. 25. But Ether can't account for all the gains, equally shown by the increasing number of DeFi tokens that are also securing new all-time highs.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DeFi Pulse

Despite these impressive developments, the DeFi sector accounts for merely 4.half dozen% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, which currently stands at $976.6 billion.

Despite representing merely a pocket-sized sliver of the total crypto market, DeFi's rapid growth suggests the sector is primed for explosive growth as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream.