Ethereum's DeFi empire is collapsing; Solana has become a speculative paradise; the true future of DeFi, however, is quietly returning—Bitcoin, once seen as an 'asset to hoard', is reshaping the financial narrative with unstoppable momentum.
Ethereum DeFi: fragmented, self-indulgent, unfocused
Once upon a time, Ethereum was synonymous with DeFi. But today, this once thriving ecosystem has fallen into structural stagnation.
Layer 2 was supposed to be the remedy for scalability, but has now evolved into 'liquidity islands': fragmented protocols, low staking efficiency, and a shattered user experience. Chain abstraction? Sounds sexy, but is chaotic in practice. Not to mention developers are exhausted from Gas wars and bridging bugs, while users frequently encounter failures in cross-chain transactions.
The deeper issue is: Ethereum is gradually losing the 'soul' of DeFi— a stable, fair, and open financial experimentation space, transforming into a highly technical, VC-dominated 'quasi-institutional platform.' Who still remembers the free spirit of DeFi Summer?
Solana:
In the face of Ethereum's weakness, many developers and funds have turned to Solana.
Yes, it's fast, it's cheap, and its DEX trading volume has surpassed five times. But the issue is, its fire does not come from real demand for DeFi, but from the 'liquidity extraction machine' ignited by meme coin frenzy.
Look at projects like TRUMP, WIF, which turned DEX into a casino and the ecosystem into a stage for pump-and-dump schemes. DeFi here has become a masquerade, with speculative capital seeking rent-seeking arbitrage behind the scenes.
Don't get me wrong, Solana's progress in AI, DePIN, and DeSci is commendable. But if DeFi is just a speculative guise, it can never become the foundation of a long-term financial system.
Bitcoin DeFi: a return and a rebirth
Really want to restart the DeFi narrative? Returning to the original starting point, Bitcoin is the answer.
We are not just talking about the old narrative of 'digital gold', but about a rapidly growing, truly decentralized, and financially serious DeFi ecosystem.
From early 2024 to the end of February 2025, the TVL of Bitcoin DeFi soared from $300 million to $5.4 billion, a staggering 17-fold increase! Projects like Babylon, Lombard, and SolvBTC are redefining the paradigm of 'productive Bitcoin'.
No longer just copying the ETH model, but creating unique innovations:
Dual Staking: BTC + native token joint staking, enhancing security while earning returns;
Hashrate Tokenization: turning mining capacity into staking products, paving new paths for lending and financial product design;
Ordinals & BRC-20: The inscription craze spurred a tokenization explosion, recording 66.7 million transactions and $420 million in fee revenue.
These innovations are not a bubble, but the release of Bitcoin's potential as a 'financial sovereign asset'.
Why is Bitcoin the ultimate destination for DeFi?
Strongest consensus: Bitcoin's network security far exceeds that of other chains, DeFi no longer worries about low 'cost of malfeasance';
Rapid influx of liquidity: $1.7 trillion in market value, nearly $100 billion in ETF funds, even if just 1% is directed, it's a DeFi powder keg;
