TLDR:
- Market: Ethereum’s DeFi TVL reached $100B on Sept. 22, 2025, as Aave offered between 5-10% rates for stablecoins.
- Narrative: Vitalik Buterin promotes safe DeFi as the economic backbone of Ethereum, doing better than Google’s ad model ethically, and rejecting memecoins as not sustainable.
Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) for DeFi reached $100B on September 22, 2025, for the first time since 2022, which caused Vitalik Buterin to double down on an audacious vision. In a recent blog entry, he calls on the community to focus less on memecoins and more on low-risk DeFi, pointing out Aave‘s 5-10% stablecoin yields as evidence of a sustainable “money-making machine” for the ecosystem. Unlike Google’s problematic ad revenue (75% of its 2024 income), which Buterin contrasts with Ethereum, leading it with clear, ethical streams of revenue.
The $ETH narrative shifts to stability, as Buterin suggests low-risk uses—payments, saving, collateralized loans—pay for experimental, unprofitable ones. TVL’s revival supports this, from risky yield farm days like Yuga Labs’ 2022 Otherdeed war. Advances by global regulators and fewer hacks strengthen his position, although he suggests TradFi risk frequently outweighs DeFi’s. He dismisses memecoins as the face of Ethereum as unethical “casinos” and supports innovations like reputation-based loans or flatcoins over the USD obsession.
Aave’s real-world returns (5% for USDC/USDT, 10% for riskier stablecoins) justify this movement, backing Ethereum’s $100B TVL. “This is a product we can be proud of,” says Buterin. Investors need to pay attention to DeFi growth and trends toward regulation, looking for gains from Ethereum’s moral development.
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