TON DeFi in May 2026: TVL picture and capital flows

May in TON DeFi didn’t produce loud protocol-launch news, but it produced an interesting picture of capital redistribution. Tonstakers keeps growing share and holds more than half of the ecosystem’s total TVL. The DEX category: four protocols out of four red on the week. Lending: stagnant. Cross-chain: the only segment with visible inflows.

Here’s the picture across the top 10, what matters in it, and what a user can conclude.

TON DeFi top 10 by TVL

DeFiLlama snapshot from the morning of May 26, 2026:

Combined, the top 10 covers almost all of TON DeFi TVL. The long tail (TONCO, Bridgers, smaller LSDs and lending plays) is less than 5%.

Segment 1: Liquid staking — three protocols in the top 10

Three of the top ten are liquid staking: Tonstakers (1), Stakee (4), and UTONIC (9). Combined liquid-staking TVL on TON sits around 206M dollars, or roughly 65% of total ecosystem TVL.

This is normal for a mature L1:

• On Ethereum, Lido and adjacent LSD protocols occupy first place by TVL.
• On Solana, Marinade dominates similarly.
• TON is reproducing the same model: liquid staking is the most legible product for native-coin holders.

Tonstakers is up modestly (+0.9% on the week), Stakee is roughly flat (+0.7%), and UTONIC is down (−3.1%). What this means for users: liquid staking is the lowest-risk way to earn on TON, but protocol choice matters. Detailed comparison — in our Tonstakers vs Whales Pool vs Bemo piece.

Segment 2: DEXes — all four red

The DEX picture on the week:

• STON.fi: −1.7% — segment leader, moderate loss.
• DeDust: −4.6% — larger, but not critical.
• TONCO: −18.3% — serious outflow (from 5.6 to 4.6 million dollars).
• Bridgers: −23.7% — the biggest drop, but the protocol is small (1.7 million dollars).

What this might mean:

1. General LP cool-off. When four out of four DEXes are red, it’s rarely random — LP providers usually react together to falling trading volume or to a shift in risk-on/risk-off sentiment.
2. Liquidity migrating to Tonstakers and similar LSD. If LPs see DEX-pool volumes falling while staking yields hold, the easy move is to close LP and step into stTON. The top-10 dynamics support this: LSD up, DEX down.
3. A protocol-specific outflow at TONCO. −18% in a week is not the general trend, it is one protocol’s story. Possible causes: one large LP exiting, lower volumes in niche pools, or a fundamental problem (none publicly known).

For users: if you trade on DEXes, the main pairs are still liquid on STON.fi and DeDust. If you plan an LP strategy, think twice about small pools with low TVL — impermanent loss shows up more sharply there and exits are harder. The split between STON.fi and DeDust — in our DEX comparison.

Segment 3: Lending — stagnant

EVAA Protocol (5) at 13.7M dollars TVL is the largest lending market on TON, but movement is nearly zero (−0.2% on the week). Affluent (10) at 5.2M dollars is −3.7%, but it’s a small protocol with noisy data.

What the dry picture says:

• EVAA — the primary leverage channel on TON, with stable TVL. That means borrowers aren’t mass-closing positions and depositors aren’t withdrawing. Neutral signal.
• Lending overall on TON is small compared with Ethereum (where Aave + Compound are billions). That is expected — a young ecosystem with not-yet-formed demand for complex credit.

If a lending strategy interests you, we covered the basics in EVAA for beginners.

Segment 4: Cross-chain — the only growing segment

NEAR Intents (2) sits at number two by TVL — formally a cross-chain bridge between NEAR and TON, which DeFiLlama counts in TON data. +20.8% on the week — the strongest growth in the top 10. Symbiosis (6), another cross-chain, +0.5%.

What this means:

• Assets are flowing into TON from other networks (NEAR, Ethereum via Symbiosis).
• Cross-chain bridges are a lever through which the ecosystem can pull liquidity in without waiting for users to buy TON on exchanges.
• If the trend continues, we’ll see DEX and lending growth from incoming liquidity.

The downside — cross-chain bridges have traditionally been the most vulnerable spots in DeFi from a security perspective. Cross-chain swap detail — in our Symbiosis and Allbridge piece.

What this means for users

If you just hold TON:

• Baseline strategy — liquid staking through Tonstakers (or its competitors). Yield around 4-5% per annum, low risk, no impermanent loss.
• TONCO and Bridgers look risky right now. That doesn’t mean off-limits, but they’re clearly not the default position for most users.

If you provide LP liquidity:

• Main pairs on STON.fi and DeDust are still liquid and trading.
• If you do LP, watch pool TVL and 7-day volume. Small pools — high impermanent loss.
• Double-check APR on pools: the marketing number and the real return often diverge. Detail — in our APR vs real yield piece.

If you watch DeFi:

• The story of the month isn’t any individual DEX drop, it’s further TVL concentration in liquid staking. That’s a structural shift, not weekly noise.
• Cross-chain — the direction to watch. If NEAR Intents keeps growing at this rate, by summer it could be a permanent factor in ecosystem TVL.

If you do your own analysis:

• DeFiLlama is the main source, but numbers refresh with a 5-15 minute lag. Weekly snapshots are the optimal balance of signal vs noise.
• How to read DeFiLlama for TON — separate guide: how to read DeFiLlama.

Next snapshot — in a month. If there are visible shifts (someone catching up to Tonstakers, a major new protocol launching), we’ll do an unscheduled piece.