DefiLlama Founder Rejects Claims Aave TVL Is Overstated by Loan Loops

0xngmi said Aave’s TVL is not being inflated by circular borrowing because DefiLlama’s methodology removes borrowed assets and already accounts for loop-related double counting.

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Summary

DefiLlama founder 0xngmi pushed back on claims that Aave’s total value locked is being artificially pumped by circular borrowing. He said DefiLlama’s TVL methodology already strips out borrowed assets, so looping activity does not inflate the metric in the way critics suggest. He also reiterated that double counting tied to Ethena-related collateral loops had already been removed from the data. The comments address scrutiny around how DeFi lending metrics are calculated and whether Aave’s reported scale is being overstated.

Terms & Concepts
  • TVL: Total value locked, a DeFi metric used to measure the value of assets deposited in a protocol under a given data methodology.
  • DeFi: Decentralized finance, blockchain-based financial services such as lending and trading that run through smart contracts.
  • Collateral loop: A borrowing strategy in which assets are repeatedly borrowed and redeposited as collateral, which can distort some activity metrics if not adjusted for.