Binance Research: On-Chain Market Generally Contracts in First Half of 2026, DeFi and Mainstream Public Chain Metrics Significantly Decline

TechFlow News, July 30, a Binance research report shows that the overall on-chain market contracted in the first half of 2026 rather than experiencing capital rotation. Total DeFi TVL across all chains decreased by $43.4 billion, a drop of 38%; the total market cap of the six major Layer 1 public chains covered in the report decreased by $246.5 billion, a drop of 42%. Ethereum spot ETF holdings decreased from over 6 million ETH to 5.2 million, while digital asset reserve company holdings increased from 6 million to 7.7 million, with changes in the marginal holding structure.

The report also pointed out that after the Gas limit increase on Ethereum, the average Gas price decreased by 75% compared to 2025, transaction count increased by approximately 50%, but annual on-chain revenue is still expected to decrease by 53%. User activity on Layer 2 general networks significantly weakened, with user operations decreasing by approximately 77% from January to June 2026. Solana network revenue decreased from $40 million in January to $14 million in June. On the other hand, BNB Chain stood out in the field of tokenized stocks and tokenized real-world assets, with the on-chain tokenized RWA market cap share increasing from 9.8% to 13.5% in the first half of the year. The report also mentioned that prediction markets, DEX, lending, and tokenized RWA remain the main sectors maintaining activity.