When it comes to crypto, hype often drives prices higher than actual usage. But sometimes, the opposite happens — tokens with billions of dollars in value locked inside their protocols trade at surprisingly low market caps.
That’s exactly the case with Pendle, EigenLayer, and Lido in 2025.
These three projects have enormous amounts of money already staked or locked, yet their Market Cap to TVL ratio (MCAP/TVL) shows they’re priced far below what their adoption suggests. And that could mean they’re some of the most undervalued tokens this year.
Let’s break it down.
Before diving into the tokens, let’s quickly explain the metric:
Market Cap/TVL: Ratio showing an asset’s valuation relative to the value locked. A higher number indicates that the asset’s valuation is high relative to the value locked(overvalued).
👉 Think of it this way: if a bank holds $10 billion in deposits but its stock is only valued at $500 million, it’s probably undervalued.
That’s what we’re seeing with Pendle(PENDLE), Eigen(EIGEN), and Lido(LDO).
💰 TVL: $13.37B | MCAP/TVL: 0.065
🚀 Why It’s Undervalued: Pendle lets users tokenize and trade future yields — a fast-growing niche in DeFi. With billions already locked in, it’s one of the most active platforms in yield markets.
📈 2025 Potential: As DeFi expands and more investors look to maximize yield strategies, Pendle could see a surge in adoption — and its token price may finally catch up to its massive TVL.
⚠️ Risks: Complex product design could limit retail adoption. Success depends on DeFi continuing to grow.
💰 TVL: $19.62B | MCAP/TVL: 0.031
🚀 Why It’s Undervalued: EigenLayer powers “restaking” — allowing Ethereum stakers to secure multiple protocols with the same ETH. It’s a breakthrough concept in security and capital efficiency.
📈 2025 Potential: If restaking becomes a core layer of Ethereum’s ecosystem, Eigen could cement itself as a foundational project. A ratio this low suggests the market hasn’t priced in its importance yet.
⚠️ Risks: Still early in development, with security and scaling challenges ahead. Regulatory uncertainty around staking could also impact growth.
💰 TVL: $39.62B | MCAP/TVL: 0.028
🚀 Why It’s Undervalued: Lido is the largest Ethereum staking platform, holding nearly $40 billion locked. Yet its market cap is tiny compared to its dominance in ETH staking.
📈 2025 Potential: As Ethereum demand rises, Lido remains the go-to platform for liquid staking. If ETH itself pumps, Lido benefits directly.
⚠️ Risks: Heavy reliance on Ethereum makes it less diversified. Centralization concerns have been raised around Lido’s staking dominance.
(Data snapshot made in September 2025)
Ethereum is fundamental to the existence and value of Pendle, Eigen, and Lido. All three protocols are built on top of the Ethereum blockchain and are designed to enhance the Ethereum ecosystem, specifically its staking and DeFi capabilities. They are not independent cryptocurrencies but rather “Layer 2” or “middleware” solutions that rely on Ethereum’s security and infrastructure.
Lido: As the largest liquid staking protocol, Lido’s entire purpose is to make Ethereum staking more accessible. It directly enables users to stake ETH and participate in securing the Ethereum network. Its value is directly tied to the health and demand for Ethereum.
EigenLayer: This protocol is built on the concept of “restaking” Ethereum. It uses ETH and liquid staking tokens (like Lido’s stETH) to extend Ethereum’s security to other protocols. Without the staked ETH from the Ethereum network, EigenLayer could not exist.
Pendle: While Pendle works with various yield-bearing assets, a significant portion of its activity and TVL comes from tokens within the Ethereum ecosystem, such as liquid staking tokens from Lido. Pendle’s ability to create a market for future yield is a direct result of the financial activity and yield generated on Ethereum.
In essence, these projects leverage Ethereum as their base layer, providing services that make Ethereum more capital-efficient and flexible. Their success and potential are inextricably linked to the growth and adoption of the Ethereum network.
Yield trading is a financial concept that Pendle enables in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. It involves separating a yield-bearing asset into two distinct tokens:
Principal Token (PT): Represents the initial amount of the asset you deposited. This token can be redeemed for the full principal amount at a future date.
Yield Token (YT): Represents all the future yield that the asset is expected to generate over a specific period.
By splitting these components, Pendle allows users to “trade” the future yield stream.
For example, a user who wants to lock in a fixed yield can sell their YT token upfront for a lump sum, while a user who believes the yield will increase can buy the YT token to speculate on a higher return.
This creates a market for speculating on or hedging against interest rate movements within the DeFi ecosystem.
Restaking is a mechanism that allows staked ETH to be reused to secure other decentralized applications and protocols, known as Actively Validated Services (AVS).
The Problem: Other protocols that want to be decentralized and secure must build and maintain their own validator networks, which is costly and difficult.
The EigenLayer Solution: EigenLayer allows ETH stakers to “restake” their already-staked ETH, extending Ethereum’s robust security to these new protocols. In return for this service, restakers earn additional rewards from the AVS they are securing, creating a new source of yield.
This allows new protocols to “borrow” Ethereum’s security and capital, while stakers can earn multiple streams of income from a single staked asset.
Liquid staking is a solution to a key problem in Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake system: the illiquidity of staked ETH.
The Problem: To become an Ethereum validator, you must lock up 32 ETH, which becomes illiquid. You cannot use this ETH for trading, lending, or any other DeFi activity.
The Lido Solution: Lido allows users to stake any amount of ETH and, in return, receive a liquid staking token called stETH. This stETH is a tokenized representation of the user’s staked ETH plus any accrued staking rewards.
Since stETH is a liquid token, it can be used throughout the DeFi ecosystem as collateral, for yield farming, or traded on exchanges, all while continuing to earn staking rewards from the underlying staked ETH. This provides the user with both staking rewards and the liquidity to use their assets elsewhere.
Related: 5 Best Cryptos Like XRP for 2025
Pendle, EigenLayer, and Lido each have billions already locked in their ecosystems, yet their valuations remain far below that activity. For new investors, MCAP/TVL is a simple but powerful way to spot tokens where adoption might be outpacing market hype.
In a bull market where overvalued coins often steal the spotlight, these three could be the quiet giants of 2025.
🚨 Always DYOR (Do Your Own Research). Low ratios don’t guarantee profits — but they do signal where real usage might be hiding behind the noise.
📥 Free PDF: 10 Altcoins for 2025–2026 => https://linkly.link/2FFKK
Why Pendle, Eigen, and Lido May Be the Most Undervalued Tokens in 2025 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Also read: ️ Post‑Quantum Cryptography Risk Assessment (PQC‑RA): What, Why & How
