Recent Trends and Thoughts in the DeFi Field

In the past week, there have been many noteworthy events and developments in the Decentralized Finance sector.

The price of Ethereum has surged significantly in the past half month, which is somewhat related to the Pectra upgrade, but it is not the main factor. More due to the easing of excessive panic sentiment previously, as well as the impact of the anticipated approval of ETF staking. It is worth noting that the ETH/BTC exchange rate had previously approached historical lows. The specifics of this upgrade are relatively complex and have been organized into relevant documents.

Cooperation among giants in the DeFi field is becoming increasingly close. A lending platform plans to launch a certain DEX V4 Hook that supports its V4 LP collateralized loans. This plan requires the application for some funds, and in return, it will share the interest income from the loans. This is currently the most practical Hook, and both parties will benefit. It enhances the capital efficiency of LPs, showcasing the composability and flexibility of the Hook. The leading role of top projects is expected to promote more innovation.

Another collaboration involves a certain lending platform, a certain yield protocol, and a certain stablecoin project. PT tokens are integrated into the lending platform, with strong demand. At the same time, the stablecoin project continues to deepen its integration with the lending platform, launching new products and increasing supply limits. This tripartite beneficial cooperation model marks the entry of blue-chip DeFi projects into an exclusive "Lego era," where compared to the early DeFi Summer, the stability and capacity of this stage have improved.

In terms of cross-chain liquidity mining, the mining output of a certain project has been halved, and the incentives for the WBTC Pool will be migrated. It is said that the reduction in yield is due to exceeding the KPI, but the TVL has not significantly decreased, and the yield remains within an acceptable range in the market. It is worth noting that the rewards related to the WBTC pools will gradually shift to the OFT version, indicating a deep binding with a certain cross-chain protocol.

In the field of Ethereum validator services, a network announced the launch of its 2.0 testnet, introducing the new concept of bApps. These applications directly utilize Ethereum validators to ensure security, rather than relying on additional capital. Validators can earn extra income by providing security services for bApps. Unlike Restaking, bApps will not affect the staked ETH or the stability of the Ethereum mainnet due to protocol issues.

Another validator service project has announced a new tech stack aimed at simplifying the deployment process of validator nodes. This design allows users to more easily run their own nodes, moving one step closer to the ideal of decentralization.

In the field of stablecoins, a certain full-chain stablecoin is rapidly expanding. It is based on specific cross-chain technology to achieve full-chain circulation and has supported multiple mainstream chains. This solution directly competes with a centralized stablecoin's cross-chain solution and has gained considerable support in terms of ecological resources, potentially leading to more applications on-chain in the future.

Some established DeFi projects are also making new moves. A lending protocol has announced that it will be relaunched soon, fixing previous security vulnerabilities. Another automated yield project has hinted at a comeback. Whether these projects can regain competitiveness in the new market environment remains to be seen.

The RWA (Real World Assets) sector is active with many institutions launching tokenized funds or partnering with DeFi platforms to bring traditional financial assets into the blockchain world. Notably, a payment giant has launched a stablecoin financial account, where the incentive mechanism pays developers the underlying asset returns in the form of fees.

In addition, several financial and blockchain giants have joined forces to achieve cross-chain settlement of tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds. This collaboration involves interoperability between public chains and permissioned chains, utilizing the technical solution from a certain oracle project. If the RWA sector explodes as expected, this oracle project could occupy a significant position in this ecosystem.