After spending time in DeFi, you'll notice a phenomenon: there is everything here, but very little order.
DEX, lending, staking, NFT, derivatives... Each protocol seems to spring up like bamboo shoots after a rain, appearing extremely prosperous. But when you observe carefully, you will find that most of them are isolated and lack a unified set of rules.
Take interest rates for example. Today, you can get 7% annualized in one lending protocol, then turn to another place and it becomes 12%, and then switch to another protocol and it drops to 3%. What does this really indicate? Is one protocol 'more profitable'? Or is another protocol 'pricing distorted'? No one knows. Because there is no unified interest rate reference in the entire DeFi world.
And this is precisely the significance of the emergence of Treehouse.
The first step towards order: DOR
The DOR (Decentralized Offered Rates) proposed by Treehouse is essentially a set of 'on-chain interest rate order'.
In the traditional financial world, benchmark interest rates like LIBOR and SOFR support financial markets worth hundreds of trillions of dollars globally. Without them, interbank lending, bond pricing, and derivative contracts would be nearly impossible to operate.
Treehouse has brought this logic into DeFi. It generates a decentralized interest rate curve through Panelists submitting data, community governance, and the staking mechanism of the TREE token. For example, TESR (Treehouse Ethereum Staking Rate) is a standardized measure of ETH staking yields.
With DOR, DeFi is no longer a series of isolated protocols; it adds a 'public pricing standard' that everyone can reference. This means that future lending protocols, derivatives platforms, and even stablecoins can use DOR for anchoring. In other words, DOR is establishing a 'common language' for the DeFi world.
Tools of Order: tAssets
Having a standard is not enough; there must also be tools for users to utilize. Treehouse's tAssets (like tETH) are the product of order.
Many people are already familiar with LSTs (liquid staking tokens), such as Lido's stETH. But tAssets are an 'advanced version' of LSTs. They can not only yield staking rewards but also package the arbitrage opportunities and additional incentives from the lending market.
This design is equivalent to upgrading a single-point yield token into a composite yield asset. It allows users to capture multiple yields without having to run around. For ordinary investors, this is a 'dimensionality reduction strike' — simple, transparent, but more efficient in returns.
In my view, tAssets are like the implementation tools for DOR. The former provides the standard, while the latter provides the actual yield scenarios. The combination of the two allows DeFi fixed income to truly function.
The security and scale behind order
Of course, the establishment of order must have security guarantees and scale effects. Treehouse has also done well in this regard:
It has already engaged top security teams like Trail of Bits, Sigma Prime for audits, and has established a bug bounty program and insurance fund.
Its TVL has exceeded $500 million, with nearly 50,000 users. It’s worth noting that this was achieved in a market that is not particularly prosperous.
This indicates that Treehouse has not only proposed a concept but has also proven its feasibility with actual products and data.
Why I think it is important
Some may say that what Treehouse is doing is 'too slow', unlike other protocols that can easily attract traffic with a trending topic. But I precisely think this is its greatest advantage.
Because in the long run, for DeFi to mature, it inevitably needs a set of order. A market without order will only be a short-term frenzy, ultimately failing to attract real large capital. Treehouse is building rules and infrastructure for this market.
This reminds me of a saying: 'Slow is fast'. While others chase trends, Treehouse is refining a system that can truly operate in the long run. It is not a short-term firework but more like a bridge; once built, it can carry the entire ecosystem's traffic.
So, in my view, Treehouse is not just a project, but an inevitable trend. The problem it is solving is not the 'yield optimization' of a specific protocol, but the 'lack of order' in the entire DeFi world. And whoever can master order can define the future.
