This paper demonstrates that gravitational potential energy (E = −GmM/d) accounts for the phenomenon commonly attributed to dark matter, by applying the mass-energy equivalence relation (E = mc2). No additional assumptions are made beyond the principle of volume conservation, ensuring that the gravitational _eld remains conservative and uninfluenced by forces other than gravity. We develop a straightforward equation and algorithm to accurately compute the potential energy of a stellar system. The theoretical implications of this model are explored with respect to energy production by various types of stars and black holes in galaxies. The model is empirically tested against the SPARC database comprising 175 galaxies to assess its validity. We continue by verifying that our model reproduces the total galactic and extragalactic dark mass and is compatible with ΛCDM cosmology. Then we demonstrate that the experimental adequacy of our model reaches 5σ. We derive the logical consequences of the potential energy stored in the gravitational field; a claim validated by SPARC data. We conclude that, to ensure the consistency of our model across the entire cosmic history, it is necessary to impose the conservation of the cosmological energy balance.