The Integration Path of Lending, Stablecoins, and RWA: From Isolated Protocols to Collaborative Ecosystems

Original author: Scof, ChainCatcher

Original text edited by: TB, ChainCatcher

Original Title: From Solo Operations to Protocol Matrices, Analyzing the Triple Fusion of Lending, Stablecoins, and RWAs

In the past month, the DeFi sector seems to have quietly undergone structural changes. Unlike the previous situation where they fought individually, some leading protocols are moving towards “banding together” through cooperation, integration, and even directly binding interests.

In this article, we approach from three aspects: the integration of lending and trading, the evolution of the stablecoin landscape, and the fusion of RWA. We sort out the most representative “group actions” at present and analyze the changes in logic and potential impacts behind them.

Lending + Trading: Interest Binding Between Protocols

Collaboration between DeFi protocols is evolving from superficial asset integration to deeper structural fusion. The recent interaction between Uniswap and Aave is a representative example of this trend.

The core upgrade of Uniswap V4 is not about saving gas, but rather introducing the Hook mechanism. This allows developers to insert custom logic at key points in the liquidity pool (such as adding or removing liquidity, before and after trade execution), enabling whitelist control, dynamic fee rates, customized price curves, and even embedding game rules. This transforms Uniswap from a trading protocol into a more open liquidity infrastructure.

Based on this, Aave plans to support Uniswap V4’s LP Token as collateral for lending, and will return the interest portion of the stablecoin GHO lent out to Uniswap DAO. The two create a substantial binding at the levels of assets, functions, and returns. This collaboration enhances the capital efficiency of LPs and provides a more realistically valuable template for the complementary relationship between protocols.

From the market data, this “herding effect” is releasing positive signals. Since May, Aave’s TVL has risen from $19.708 billion to $23.347 billion, an increase of over 18%. Uniswap’s TVL has also grown by about 11% during the same period, rising from $4.178 billion to $4.65 billion. The simultaneous strength of both may not be a coincidence.

Stablecoins: A New Stage of Differentiation and Specialization

The competition in the stablecoin sector is no longer limited to “who is more centralized” or “who offers higher returns.” More protocols are advancing stablecoin products towards specialized uses and structured tiering.

Taking Ethena as an example, the most active stablecoin in its ecosystem is USDe, which is deeply integrated with Aave and supports a maximum loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 90%. However, since May, USDe’s total value locked (TVL) has dropped from $5.725 billion to $4.993 billion, a decline of nearly 13%. Behind this, Ethena is launching another more conservative new product, USDtb.

Changes in the supply of USDe, source

USDtb is a fully collateralized stablecoin with no yield, backed by BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund (BUIDL) and USDC. The current on-chain supply exceeds $1.44 billion, with a collateralization rate maintained at 99.4%. Unlike the strategic hedging of USDe, USDtb is more like an “on-chain dollar,” providing institutions with a reliable, non-volatile stable anchor. Particularly during periods of negative funding rates in the market, Ethena can transfer the hedging funds from USDe to USDtb to stabilize the entire asset pool structure.

The supply of USDtb, source: Dune

Another variable in the stablecoin landscape is USDT₀. This fully on-chain stablecoin launched by Tether in collaboration with LayerZero circulates based on the OFT protocol and has currently expanded to multiple chains including Arbitrum, Unichain, and Hyperliquid, with TVL growing from $1.042 billion in May to $1.171 billion. In contrast, its goal is not financial innovation, but to bridge multi-chain liquidity, becoming a stable “fuel” in DeFi.

The competition for stablecoins is no longer a one-dimensional efficiency battle; it has evolved into a structured and scenario-based product system. Products such as GHO, USDe, USDtb, and USDT₀ occupy positions in the fields of lending, hedging, security, cross-chain, and payment, reflecting that the stablecoin ecosystem is undergoing a reshuffling characterized by “functional specialization” and “clarification of application scenarios.”

RWA: On-chain Integration of Real World Assets

Once regarded as “ancillary to traditional finance,” RWAs are now becoming strategic collaboration gateways for DeFi giants. In recent months, multiple protocols and organizations have formed a clear trend of collaboration around the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds and have begun actual deployment on-chain.

The most representative case is Arbitrum DAO. On May 8, the community passed a proposal to allocate 35 million ARB to three RWA issuance platforms: Franklin Templeton ($BENJI), Spiko ($USTBL), and WisdomTree. These three companies are heavyweight players in the traditional finance and asset management sectors, providing tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds. The funds are allocated through the STEP (Stable Treasury Endowment Program), aiming to establish an on-chain stable and yield-bearing Treasury asset pool. According to official data, the first phase of the program has already generated over $650,000 in revenue.

Aave’s RWA platform Horizon takes the “use case first” approach. The main assets launched on Horizon are tokenized money market funds (MMFs), which institutions can use as collateral to borrow GHO or USDC. This means that RWA is no longer just an investment target, but is actually integrated into the core functionality of DeFi protocols, becoming financial components that can be circulated and lent.

Whether it is a DAO, a lending platform, or an infrastructure provider, RWA is now seen as a key pathway to achieving real on-chain yields, bridging traditional finance, and enhancing user confidence.

DeFi is not about banding together for warmth, but about collaborative evolution.

On the surface, the collaboration among this round of DeFi protocols appears to be a joint effort born out of “track anxiety,” but from the actual structure, it looks more like a systematic integration and reconstruction.

These changes are not merely functional expansions, but rather an upgrade in the collaborative methods between protocols. They herald the next stage of DeFi, which will transition from isolated single-point tools to an interconnected and interdependent financial network system.

For the average investor, the focus may not be on who has the higher TVL, but on which portfolios are more stable, more efficient, and more able to ride through the volatility cycle. Huddles are not the same as price increases, but they may be the base for the next round of growth.