Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23rd, 2026 - Mantle, a distribution-focused blockchain positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and on-chain liquidity, has reached $755 million in total DeFi TVL, according to DeFiLlama. The network says this figure represents 230% growth over the prior six months and places Mantle ahead of multiple Layer 1 chains, including Avalanche and Sui, in DeFi TVL.
The scale of this move is notable given where Mantle started in the autumn of 2025. In September 2025, Mantle’s TVL was reported in a range between $160 million and $200 million. The network’s latest milestone reflects a surge in locked value even as market conditions were described internally as one of the coldest cycles in years, and despite ongoing geopolitical frictions referenced by the project.
This performance, Mantle’s team argues, is not the product of transient liquidity incentives. Instead, the growth is presented as the cumulative outcome of sustained ecosystem development, infrastructure advantages, and a distribution mechanism tied to a major centralized exchange partner. Central to this distribution is Mantle’s strategic relationship with Bybit, which the network highlights as a channel to over 80 million users.
Two focused growth levers
Mantle has prioritized two strategic areas it describes as high-conviction pathways to continued expansion:
- Real World Assets (RWA) - The network has invested in infrastructure optimized for tokenized treasury bills, credit and real estate. Mantle frames itself as a primary destination for institutional RWA flows once those assets move on-chain at scale.
- CeDeFi Flywheel - Mantle emphasizes a CeDeFi narrative that marries on-chain transparency with exchange-grade liquidity and usability, facilitated by a close operational alignment with Bybit.
The announcement ties these two levers together as the structural foundation behind recent TVL gains, with Mantle positioning its infrastructure to capture institutional demand for tokenized assets and to provide frictionless user access from centralized exchange liquidity pools.
Ecosystem integrations and recent metrics
Mantle’s public update lists a series of protocol-level and distribution integrations that the project credits for accelerating its TVL expansion. Key items cited include:
- Aave deployment - Mantle reports crossing $1.34 billion in total lending and borrowing on Aave in just over a month since its deployment there, which the project says makes it the third-largest Aave market globally, trailing only Plasma and Ethereum.
- Mantle Vault on Bybit - Bybit’s Mantle Vault, operating directly on Mantle Network and powered by CIAN Protocol and Aave, has surpassed $150 million in assets under management (AUM). The vault is described as a CeFi-to-DeFi gateway for Bybit’s users.
- Bybit Alpha listings - Four Mantle-native assets are listed and tradeable on Bybit Alpha, giving the platform’s 80M+ user base direct on-ramps into Mantle-originated assets.
- Capital utility expansion - The credit protocol 3Jane, which is noted as an Ethereum-based protocol backed by Paradigm, has whitelisted $MNT, $mETH and $cmETH for unsecured USDC credit lines, which Mantle highlights as an expansion of capital efficiency for its native assets.
- Everclear integration - Users can deposit stablecoins from supported chains directly into Aave on Mantle in a single transaction without manual bridging, a change Mantle states simplifies access to on-chain lending markets.
The project also points to a broader ecosystem foundation including community-owned assets exceeding $4 billion and core projects such as mETH, fBTC and MI4. Partnerships with issuers and protocols like Ethena USDe, Ondo USDY and OP-Succinct are listed as complementary to Mantle’s buildout.
"Surpassing major L1s like Avalanche and Sui is just the beginning," said Emily Bao, Head of Spot at Bybit and Key Advisor at Mantle. "Our 230% growth despite the current “cold” market conditions and ongoing political tensions proves that our infrastructure is built for builders who value sustainability and scale. As RWA becomes the backbone of DeFi, Mantle will be the engine accelerating it."
Positioning for the next phase
Mantle frames the $755 million TVL milestone as evidence of product-market fit rather than a terminal achievement. The network’s roadmap presented alongside the announcement is centered on capturing tokenized real-world asset flows by combining a liquid lending market on Aave with distribution from a large centralized exchange partner and a protocol stack tuned for RWA issuance.
Specific future assets are referenced at a conceptual level, including tokenized gold and additional institutional-grade RWAs, which Mantle says are in its pipeline. The project argues that these additions will align with the infrastructure already described and sustain the upward trajectory of TVL.
Mantle’s messaging concludes with an explicit ambition to reach a top 10 global DeFi TVL ranking, an objective the team characterizes as a natural outcome of its distribution layer connecting significant centralized liquidity to on-chain markets.
What this means for markets
For market participants focused on decentralized lending, tokenized assets, and CeDeFi integrations, Mantle’s update signals a rapid accumulation of on-chain liquidity tied to exchange distribution channels and institutional-focused infrastructure. The project’s numbers emphasize both lending market depth and gateway products that target mainstream centralized exchange users.
Contact
PR: MK Chin, Mantle - [email protected]
This article is authored by Caleb Monroe and is for informational purposes only. It is not investment advice.