The New Trend of DeFi: From Independent Protocols to Collaborative Ecosystems

In the past month, there have been some notable structural changes in the decentralized finance ( DeFi ) space. Unlike the previous pattern of each fighting alone, some leading protocols are moving towards "clustering" through cooperation, integration, and even direct interest binding. This trend is mainly reflected in the integration of lending and trading, the evolution of the stablecoin landscape, and the integration of real-world assets ( RWA ).

Deep Integration of Lending and Trading

The collaboration between DeFi protocols is moving from superficial asset integration to deeper structural integration. A well-known DEX's latest version introduces the Hook mechanism, allowing developers to insert custom logic at key points in the liquidity pool, enabling functions such as whitelist control, dynamic fees, and customized price curves. This transforms the DEX from a simple trading protocol into a more open liquidity underlying architecture.

Based on this innovation, a certain lending platform plans to support the LP Token of the DEX as collateral for lending, and will return part of the interest from the borrowed stablecoins to the governance organization of the DEX. This collaboration enhances the capital utilization efficiency of LPs and provides a more practically valuable template for the complementary relationship between protocols.

Market data shows that this "herding effect" is sending positive signals. Since May, the total locked value (TVL) of the aforementioned lending platforms has increased from $19.708 billion to $23.347 billion, with an increase of over 18%. During the same period, the TVL of the DEX also grew by about 11%, rising from $4.178 billion to $4.65 billion. The simultaneous strength of both may not be a coincidence.

Stablecoins: A New Stage of Differentiation and Specialization

The competition in the stablecoin space is no longer limited to "who is more centralized" or "who offers higher yields". More protocols are pushing stablecoin products towards specialized uses and structured layers.

Taking a certain emerging protocol as an example, the most active stablecoin within its ecosystem is deeply integrated with a certain lending platform and supports a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 90% (LTV). However, since May, the TVL of this stablecoin has decreased from $5.725 billion to $4.993 billion, a decline of nearly 13%. Meanwhile, the protocol is launching another more conservative new product.

This new stablecoin is a fully collateralized product with no yield, consisting of a tokenized money market fund and USDC from a large asset management company. The current on-chain supply exceeds $1.44 billion, with a collateralization rate maintained at 99.4%. Unlike the strategic hedging of the previous stablecoin, the new product resembles an "on-chain dollar," providing institutions with a reliable and stable anchor free from volatility.

Another noteworthy aspect is a certain all-chain stablecoin, which circulates based on a specific protocol and has now expanded to multiple public chains. The TVL grew from $1.042 billion to $1.171 billion in May. Its goal is not financial innovation, but to bridge multi-chain liquidity and become a stable "fuel" in DeFi.

The competition among stablecoins is no longer a single-dimensional battle for efficiency, but has evolved into a structured and scenario-based product system. Different products occupy positions in the fields of lending, hedging, security, cross-chain, and payment, reflecting that the stablecoin ecosystem is undergoing a reshuffling of "functional specialization" and "clarification of application scenarios."

RWA: On-chain integration of Real World Assets

Physical assets that were once seen as "ancillary to traditional finance" (RWA) are now becoming strategic collaboration gateways for DeFi giants. Over the past few months, multiple protocols and organizations have formed a clear trend of collaboration around the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds and have begun to deploy them on-chain.

The most representative case is the governance body of a certain Layer 2 public chain. On May 8th, the community passed a proposal to allocate 35 million native tokens to three RWA issuance platforms. These three companies are heavyweight players in the traditional finance and asset management fields, providing tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds as assets. The funds are allocated through a specific program, aiming to establish an on-chain stable and interest-bearing treasury asset pool. According to official data, the first phase of this program has generated over $650,000 in revenue.

A well-known lending platform's RWA platform takes the "use case first" approach. The main asset launched on this platform is the tokenized money market fund (MMFs), which institutions can use as collateral to borrow stablecoins. This means that RWA is no longer just an investment target, but has been integrated into the core functions of Decentralized Finance protocols, becoming a financial component that can be circulated and lent.

Whether it is DAO, lending platforms, or infrastructure providers, RWA is now seen as a key pathway to achieve on-chain real yields, connect with traditional finance, and enhance user confidence.

The Co-evolution of Decentralized Finance

On the surface, the alliance among this round of DeFi protocols seems like a collaboration born out of "track anxiety," but in terms of actual structure, it resembles a systemic integration and reconstruction.

These changes are not just simple functional expansions, but an upgrade in the collaboration methods between protocols. It heralds the next stage of Decentralized Finance, which will transition from isolated single-point tools to an interconnected financial network system.

For ordinary investors, the focus may not be on whose TVL is higher, but rather on which combination structures are more stable, more efficient, and better able to navigate through volatility cycles. Gathering together does not equal price increase, but it may very well be the foundation for the next round of growth.