Rich Rines, a founding contributor of the Core Foundation, stated in an interview that the rapid growth of Bitcoin DeFi's Total Value Locked (TVL) from 2024 to 2025 resembles a typical tech hype cycle. He compared the current phase to the 2020 DeFi Summer, noting that market enthusiasm is temporarily outpacing technological maturity. Rines emphasized that sustainable TVL should stem from Bitcoin asset management protocols and real yield scenarios, rather than short-term liquidity accumulation. As infrastructure matures, more use cases are expected to gradually unlock value, though this will require time for validation.