What is TVL?
Also called: total value locked
TVL is the total value of assets deposited in a protocol at a point in time. It measures how much capital currently trusts the contracts, not revenue, profit, or user count.
In practice
TVL is useful and easy to misread. It moves with token prices, so a chart can climb while deposits are flat, and incentive programmes can rent capital that leaves the moment rewards stop. Read it next to fee revenue and depositor count before treating it as traction.