Your filters define the category universe
Unlike the chain market-share screen, this calculation operates on the protocols that remain after search, deployment-chain and minimum TVL filters. Raising the minimum can remove smaller members and increase the apparent concentration. The category’s percentage share uses summed TVL across those filtered groups. Protocols without a category remain visibly unclassified, and centralized exchange category entries are excluded.
Read leader share together with HHI
Suppose a hypothetical category contains four protocols with $70 million, $10 million, $10 million and $10 million. The leading protocol holds 70% of that category’s summed reported TVL. Squared fractional shares add to 0.52, producing a within-category HHI of 5,200. Four equal $25 million members would instead produce an HHI of 2,500. These examples show why simply counting protocol names does not measure the distribution of their reported balances.
Avoid treating the sum as unique ecosystem capital
Protocol balances can overlap through wrappers, layered positions and provider grouping choices. A deployment-chain filter does not convert multichain totals into chain-specific balances. Consequently, the sum shown here is a descriptive sum of reported protocol TVL, not a deduplicated measure of all capital in DeFi. Use the category comparison to locate dependence on a few large entries, then inspect their histories and definitions. Category membership also does not establish shared safety, legal treatment or investment quality.