As Bitcoin (BTC) breaks through the $110,000 mark in May 2025, the overall sentiment in the crypto market is heating up. Despite fluctuations at high levels, the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) ecosystem is quietly ushering in a new round of structural upgrades. From capital inflows and protocol innovations to the participation of traditional financial institutions, DeFi is no longer just a "paradise for speculators," but is gradually evolving into a part of the new generation of financial infrastructure.
Rising Amid Market Fluctuations: Strong Performance of DeFi Assets
Although mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have recently experienced significant price volatility, some DeFi blue-chip projects have shown a steady upward trend. Established protocols such as Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), and MakerDAO (MKR) have successively announced V4 or multi-chain deployment upgrade plans since April, reigniting market expectations for their growth.
According to on-chain data platform DeFiLlama, as of May 27, 2025, the total locked value (TVL) of the entire DeFi ecosystem has surpassed $108 billion, reaching a new high since the Luna collapse in 2022. Among them, the TVL of the Ethereum mainnet has recovered to $67 billion, while Layer 2 scaling networks like Polygon, Arbitrum, and zkSync have contributed over 35% of the new liquidity in this round of growth.
Additionally, in the last two quarters, the projects with the most significant gains in the DeFi sector have come from the "RWA" (Real World Assets) and "restaking" tracks, such as Pendle, EtherFi, and Ondo Finance. This indicates that the market is transitioning from traditional liquidity mining and leveraged lending mechanisms, which are "high-risk and high-volatility," to a structure that is more stable, compliant, and closely connected to the real economy.
Institutional Participation Drives the "Compliance" Process of DeFi
The structural recovery of the DeFi ecosystem is not only due to on-chain innovations but also a significant increase in institutional participation.
In early May, BlackRock, the largest asset management firm in the U.S., indirectly revealed its tentative investments in certain RWA-type DeFi assets through its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Meanwhile, Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have begun piloting the use of blockchain infrastructure for recording and settling a portion of bond clearing and repurchase agreements, bringing new imaginative possibilities to the DeFi ecosystem.
Furthermore, Circle's "USDC Stablecoin On-chain Settlement Platform" has partnered with several traditional banks to achieve the mapping of on-chain debt certificates to off-chain regulatory accounts, gradually legalizing and standardizing the use of stablecoins in the DeFi ecosystem, providing a "bridge" for enterprises and financial institutions to access DeFi.
Emerging Narratives Drive Track Differentiation: RWA, Restaking, AI + DeFi as Main Themes
From a technical narrative perspective, since 2025, the three major themes that have attracted capital attention in the DeFi ecosystem are:
Risks and Challenges Remain: Regulation, Contract Security, and User Thresholds
Despite DeFi demonstrating strong resilience and innovative potential, some structural risks cannot be ignored:
Summary: Transitioning from "Financial Experiment" to "Financial Infrastructure"
Behind Bitcoin's new highs, the DeFi ecosystem is also undergoing a profound transformation that goes unnoticed by the public. Transitioning from a high-risk arbitrage paradise to a decentralized infrastructure capable of providing real financial services, DeFi is becoming an undeniable structural force in the crypto market.
Whether it is the compliant entry of traditional finance, the multidimensional expansion of technical narratives, or the redefinition of risk-return structures by users, all indicate that: DeFi is no longer just a tool for short-term speculation in bear markets, but a core building force for long-term value in bull markets.
Related: After Bitcoin (BTC) rises to $110,000, are seasoned players starting to "quietly cash out"?
Original article: “Decentralized Finance Rises Against the Trend: DeFi Ecosystem Welcomes Structural Evolution, Capital and Technology Reshape the Landscape”
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