Since focusing on the DeFi fixed income track in 2021, TreehouseFi has consistently centered on 'solving the gap in industry infrastructure'. Through the continuous evolution of the tAssets liquidity staking system and the decentralized DOR interest rate benchmark, it has gradually achieved a dual breakthrough in 'optimizing crypto asset returns' and 'tokenizing traditional fixed income assets'. As of August 2025, the project has completed stable deployments across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Mantle, serving over 60,000 users, with total locked value (TVL) exceeding $500 million, and the 'on-chain national debt tAsset' is entering the final countdown for launch. Its explorations in 'dynamic iteration of infrastructure', 'depth of ecosystem implementation', and 'resilience in risk response' not only build its own differentiated competitive advantage but also become a key link between DeFi and the traditional fixed income market.
1. Infrastructure Evolution: From 'Functional Satisfaction' to 'Dual Excellence in Experience and Security'
TreehouseFi's core barrier is not a static technical architecture, but rather the ability of tAssets and DOR to dynamically evolve with user needs and industry environment, continuously breaking through in 'income flexibility', 'data authority', and 'security redundancy', avoiding the trap of 'function solidification'.
1. tAssets: From 'Multi-source Income' to 'Risk-controlled Income Customization'
Initially, tAssets were marketed with 'staking + MEY arbitrage + points' as multi-source income, and have now evolved into a refined system of 'customizable income structure + optional risk hedging', better suited to different users' risk tolerance levels:
• Flexible customization of income structure: Users can independently select income components—conservative users can retain only 'basic staking income + Nuts points' (income fluctuation ≤0.5%), balanced users can add 'low-risk MEY arbitrage' (only connecting to top protocols like Aave, Compound, income fluctuation 0.5%-1.5%), and aggressive users can add 'full market MEY + re-staking rewards' (income fluctuation 1.5%-3%). Component adjustments take effect in real-time, with no fees or income interruptions;
• Risk hedging tools implemented: New 'MEY Loss Compensation Insurance' where users pay an annual premium of 0.15% to cover the maximum loss from a single MEY arbitrage (capped at 5% of the holding amount), with premiums included in the DAO insurance fund (currently sized at $5 million). By Q3 2025, the activation rate is expected to reach 30%, significantly reducing users' concerns about arbitrage risks;
• Cross-chain experience further optimized: The cross-chain time for tAssets between Ethereum and Arbitrum, Mantle will be shortened from 10 minutes to 5 minutes, and cross-chain gas fees will be further reduced by 20% (with part of the costs subsidized by the ecological fund), while 'real-time tracking of cross-chain progress' will be supported, allowing users to check the flow status of assets at cross-chain nodes, avoiding a 'cross-chain black box' experience.
2. DOR: From 'Single Interest Rate Benchmark' to 'Multi-asset Authoritative Pricing Anchor'
As an industry-level interest rate infrastructure, DOR has expanded from being exclusive to Ethereum staking rates to a diverse benchmark covering both crypto and traditional assets, continuously enhancing data reliability and application convenience to improve industry adaptability:
• Multi-asset interest rate coverage expansion: New 'Cross-chain tUSDC interest rate benchmark' added in Q3 2025 (calculated based on the TVL of tUSDC across three chains, with real-time updating of weights), and 'Green RWA interest rate benchmark' will be launched by the end of 2025 (based on monthly cash flow yield from cooperative wind power projects, with data endorsed by third-party energy auditing agencies). Future plans include connecting a 'Gold RWA interest rate benchmark' to achieve a closed loop of interest rate coverage for 'crypto-native assets + traditional physical assets';
• Data authority upgrade: Optimizing the structure of quote providers, introducing two traditional financial data service providers (providing treasury yield and RWA underlying asset data) and three institutional-grade quote providers (requiring a pledge of 500,000 $TREE or equivalent tAssets). The data weight distribution is 'community quote providers 50% + institutional quote providers 30% + third-party data 20%', while a new 'data calibration mechanism' has been added—daily comparison of DOR data with average rates from mainstream market platforms; if the deviation exceeds 1%, a secondary sampling is triggered to ensure data accuracy;
• Developer toolkit open: Launching 'DOR Developer SDK' to simplify the external project access process—developers do not need to understand the underlying mechanism of DOR, and can call multi-asset interest rate data with just three lines of code. Currently, eight developer teams have developed derivative prototypes based on this SDK (including two interest rate swap products), lowering the industry's usage barriers.
2. Depth of Ecosystem Implementation: From 'User Growth' to 'Value Retention and Industry Linkage'
The ecological development of TreehouseFi has not fallen into the trap of 'traffic dependence', but rather focuses on 'user value delivery', 'institutional business implementation', and 'RWA closed-loop construction', achieving long-term retention through substantial results rather than short-term speculation.
1. Users and Assets: High-quality retention's 'Value-driven Logic'
The core of user growth and asset accumulation lies in 'income transparency + low thresholds + scenario adaptation', rather than airdrop subsidies, with user structure showing 'long-term and diversified' characteristics:
• Income transparency and traceability: Users can view the detailed source of each income in the account center—such as 'basic staking income (0.015 ETH, from Ethereum 2.0 staking node X), MEY arbitrage income (0.002 ETH, from the interest rate difference of 0.3% between Aave lending USDT/Compound borrowing USDT), Nuts points (60, currently exchangeable for $TREE amount)', with no ambiguous terms, and user satisfaction with income transparency reaches 93%;
• User segmentation and scenario adaptation: Launching 'tAssets Small Amount Pledge Package' for small users (minimum investment starting at 0.005 ETH, approximately $10) and providing 'Bulk Pledge API' for enterprise users (supporting minting of tAssets above 100 ETH in a single transaction). Currently, small users account for 60%, enterprise users account for 10%, and individual large users account for 30%, covering needs across all tiers;
• Retention quality leading the industry: 30-day user retention rate of 65%, 90-day retention rate of 30%, both higher than the average levels of DeFi projects (45%, 15%); average holding duration per user is 120 days, doubling the industry average of 60 days, showing users' recognition of the project's long-term value.
2. Institutional Collaboration and RWA: From 'Intentional Connection' to 'Business Closed Loop Implementation'
The project's institutional collaboration and RWA implementation have clear business outcomes, rather than remaining at the 'framework agreement' stage, forming a value transfer closed loop between 'crypto and traditional':
• Deepening institutional user business: Through Aave Prime (institution-level lending market), tETH has become the core collateral asset for two hedge funds and three family offices. Institutional users have borrowed stablecoins exceeding $30 million using tETH as collateral, primarily for 'crypto asset market making' and 'on-chain national debt tAsset allocation', forming an institutional business closed loop of 'tAssets staking - stablecoin borrowing - asset reallocation';
• Compliance and details for RWA implementation: The 'on-chain national debt tAsset' has completed three key steps—underlying asset connection (U.S. 3-month treasury bonds, custodied by State Street, with verifiable asset confirmation), compliance filing (dual filing with U.S. SEC Regulation D and Regulation S, covering both domestic and foreign users), cash flow distribution (interest from treasury bonds is automatically distributed to user accounts in USDC on the 15th of each month, with a transaction time of ≤2 hours). Currently, over 5,000 users have made reservations, with a reservation scale exceeding $6 million, and the first month of launch is expected to exceed $10 million;
• Ecological fund's 'implementation-oriented' investment: 10% of the ecological fund (approximately 100 million $TREE, equivalent to $35 million at current prices) is allocated with 70% for 'RWA ecological construction' (including custodial fee subsidies, compliance costs) and 30% for 'derivative development based on DOR'. Five teams have been funded, with one team's 'DOR interest rate swap product' already entering the testing phase, focusing on 'actual business implementation' without idle funds.
3. Evolution of Risk Response: From 'Passive Endurance' to 'Active Resilience Building'
TreehouseFi faces multiple challenges in its development, including industry competition, compliance regulation, and market volatility. However, through 'differentiated positioning', 'dynamic adjustment mechanisms', and 'resource reserves', it transforms risks into development opportunities rather than passive responses.
1. Core Competitive Advantage: Difficult-to-replicate 'Cross-domain Synergy and Resource Barriers'
• Ecological synergy barriers: Unlike competitors that 'only do liquidity staking' (like Lido) or 'only do interest rate data' (like on-chain data projects), TreehouseFi's 'tAssets (user side) + DOR (industry side) + RWA (asset side)' form a triple synergy—user growth of tAssets provides real trading data for DOR, the improvement of DOR prices RWA products, and the implementation of RWA provides new scenarios for tAssets users. This 'user-data-asset' closed loop is something that single-function projects cannot replicate.
• Cross-domain resource advantages: MassMutual Ventures (a venture capital arm of a traditional financial giant) introduced in Series A provides RWA connection resources (e.g., custodial cooperation with State Street) and institutional user channels; after the Binance HODLer airdrop, the project's recognition in traditional financial circles has significantly improved. Currently, two traditional asset management companies plan to develop 'on-chain fixed income products' based on DOR, continually strengthening resource barriers;
• Security redundancy system: In addition to top audits from four firms like Trail of Bits, Sigma Prime, a new 'Smart Contract Anomaly Monitoring System' has been introduced (real-time interception of large abnormal transfers, high-frequency pledge redemptions, and other risk behaviors) along with a 'Multi-signature Emergency Mechanism' (core parameter adjustments require confirmation from 3/5 multi-signature addresses, and can pause protocol functions in emergencies). No security incidents occurred by Q3 2025, validating the safety of user assets.
2. Potential Challenges and Response Strategies: Proactive Breakthrough Rather Than Passive Defense
• High user education costs: Scenario guidance + simplified operations: The underlying mechanisms of DOR (quote pledges, data calibration) are relatively complex for ordinary users, with only 15% of users currently participating in DOR quoting. The project plans to launch a 'one-click participation feature for DOR' in Q4 2025—users will not need to understand the mechanism, just select the pledge amount (minimum 100 $TREE), and the system will automatically complete the quoting and data submission, while also producing tutorials on 'the connection between DOR and daily financial management' (e.g., 'how to use DOR interest rates to select cost-effective fixed income products'), reducing the understanding threshold.
• RWA compliance risk: Regional implementation + compliance team expansion: Different regions have vastly different regulatory requirements for RWA tokenization (e.g., EU MiCA requires additional filing for green assets). The project adopts a 'regional gradient implementation' strategy—first launching the 'on-chain national debt tAsset' in the U.S. (SEC filing completed) and then advancing to the EU market in Q1 2026 (a five-person EU compliance special team has been formed to connect with local regulatory authorities), avoiding global impact from compliance issues in a single region;
• Industry competition pressure: Differentiated positioning + ecological depth: Aave plans to launch 'interest rate benchmarks based on its own lending data' in 2026, which may divert some developers. TreehouseFi's response strategy is to 'focus on cross-domain assets and RWA'—strengthening DOR's benchmark position in green RWA and cross-chain tUSDC rather than competing with Aave on single Ethereum lending rates; at the same time, deepening the synergy between tAssets and RWA (e.g., tAssets held for over 90 days can be prioritized for RWA allocation), building ecological depth of 'crypto + traditional' to form differentiated competitive strength.
Summary and Future Outlook
Through 'dynamic evolution of infrastructure', 'depth of ecosystem implementation', and 'resilience in risk response', TreehouseFi has built a unique competitive advantage in the DeFi fixed income track. Its core value lies in: providing users with 'risk-controlled, transparent yield' fixed income tools, offering the industry a 'multi-asset coverage, authoritative and reliable' interest rate benchmark, and providing a 'compliant, implementable' path for the on-chainization of traditional assets, effectively bridging the gap between DeFi and the traditional fixed income market. Although it faces short-term challenges such as user education and compliance implementation, the project's dynamic adjustment capability and clear long-term positioning provide it with sustained development potential.
Future Outlook:
• Short-term (Q4 2025 - Q1 2026): If the 'On-chain National Debt tAsset' is successfully launched, it is expected to attract 20,000 - 25,000 new low-risk preference users, with ecosystem TVL breaking through $750 million, and $TREE price expected to rebound to $0.55 - $0.65, driven primarily by user and capital increments brought by RWA products;
• Medium-term (2026): If the multi-asset DOR benchmark (green RWA, cross-chain tUSDC) is implemented, and the number of derivatives based on DOR (interest rate swaps, floating rate bonds) reaches more than six, it is expected that the proportion of institutional users will increase to 20%, RWA scale will exceed $400 million, and $TREE price may reach $0.90 - $1.10, driven by the penetration rate of DOR in the industry and the richness of ecosystem products;
• Long-term (2027): If the scale of the DeFi fixed income track grows from the current $5 billion to $60 billion, TreehouseFi is expected to occupy 15%-20% of the market share with its 'multi-asset DOR + RWA ecosystem', exceeding $9 billion in ecosystem TVL, becoming the core infrastructure connecting the crypto ecosystem with the traditional fixed income market. Its long-term value growth will depend on the project's implementation progress, industry penetration pace, and regulatory environment collaboration, requiring continuous attention to RWA cross-regional expansion and deepening of DOR industry applications. @Treehouse Official #Treehouse $TREE
