As of · Retrieved Tuesday, September 22, 2026 (PT)
Use cases · DeFi
Decentralized finance
Lending, DEX trading, derivatives, and yield via smart contracts—with clear risk education for boards.
What to measure
- Deposits or total value locked (TVL) as each protocol publishes it on its own dashboard or docs—methodologies differ, so don’t add figures across protocols
- Stablecoin supply on DEXs / lending markets
- Top protocols by category (DEX, lending, LSD, perps)
Themes 2025–2026
Ethereum hosts many long-running DeFi protocols; L2s and alt-L1s compete on fees and UX. Institutional DeFi often means permissioned pools, KYC’d venues, or tokenized T-bills as collateral—not anonymous retail farming. Smart-contract, oracle, and governance risk remain central teaching points.