# Market size and conditions
DeFi is an open and global financial system designed for the Internet age – an alternative to opaque, tightly controlled, and system-maintained infrastructure and processes.
DeFi allows transparently controlling and managing your assets and gives access to global markets and an alternative to local currency or banking options. DeFi products open financial services to anyone with an internet connection and are primarily owned and operated by their users.
DeFi technology is a very believable story for larger businesses because it shows products with genuine returns and enables them to earn impressive returns on deposits rather than making risky bets and just hoping for the best.
On the Ethereum blockchain alone, the amount of money locked up in DeFi was $90 billion in mid-May 2021. If you look at the sum of all blockchains, that number is $140 billion. And there's still hundreds of percent room to grow.
Despite [months of declining sales and falling prices](https://decrypt.co/116246/solana-soars-flow-falls-nft-sales-decline-november), total NFT sales in 2022 nearly equaled the peak in 2021, according to [DappRadar](https://dappradar.com/blog/). A buoyant start to the NFT market in 2022 contributed to year-end sales growth and helped make up for a few weak subsequent months.
In 2022, organic trading volume in the NFT market on blockchain platforms and trading venues was about $24.7 billion. This is a slight decline from the [$25.1 billion total](https://decrypt.co/88636/biggest-crypto-story-2021-nft-boom) recorded in 2021 when the NFT market saw a spike in activity and interest as tokenized collectibles first became more than a niche interest.
*\*Disclaimer: The data presented herein is strictly for informational purposes, does not constitute financial advice, and is subject to change at any time at the discretion of the development team.*
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