The term is usually Total Value Locked (TVL). It means the total dollar value of crypto assets deposited and locked in a smart contract or DeFi protocol.

Quick meaning

TVL is commonly used to describe how much capital users have put into a protocol’s contracts at a given time. It is often shown in USD so different tokens and protocols can be compared more easily.

Related terms

  • Total supply : the total number of tokens that exist, not the amount locked in a contract.
  • Balance held by a contract : the raw token amount inside a specific contract, which TVL converts into value terms.

Simple example

If a DeFi app holds 100 ETH and 50,000 USDC in its contracts, its TVL is the combined USD value of those assets at current prices.

If you want, I can also explain the difference between TVL , market cap , and circulating supply.