Cardano's leading DeFi applications, Liqwid and Lenfi, have experienced a significant surge in total value locked (TVL), increasing by over 300% in the past month, as reported by DefiLlama. Liqwid, the largest DeFi app on the Cardano network, reached a record $177 million in TVL, marking a 38% rise in just the past week.

This growth is attributed to the recent appreciation in ADA, Cardano's native cryptocurrency, which has outperformed Bitcoin recently. The positive sentiment is partly due to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson's discussions with US lawmakers on crypto regulation.

ADA's prominence as a key asset in Cardano's lending platforms has been crucial to this TVL growth.