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Zynk Raise - Stablecoin-enabled payments infrastructure platform Zynk raises $5 million from Coinbase Ventures and others.
Stream Loss - Stream Finance faces $93 million loss, launches legal investigation.
Bitcoin Rut - Bitcoin nears lowest since june as U.S. government shutdown hits joint longest.
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Messari's protocol reports give you a deep dive on the foundation and state of top crypto protocols, including key metrics and notable events. See the complete list of protocol reports here and get a preview of our latest report below.
Solana’s DeFi TVL increased 32.7% QoQ to $11.5 billion
The Application Revenue Capture Ratio (Chain GDP divided by Real Economic Value) grew from 222.8% to 262.8%
Stablecoin market cap on Solana grew 36.5% QoQ to an all-time high of $14.1 billion
SOL finished Q3 2025 with a market cap of $113.5 billion, a 37% QoQ increase
Decentralized lending & borrowing protocol
TVL rose 24.4% QoQ to $2.8B, driven by growth in BNB and BTC-backed collateral (notably xSolvBTC and SolvBTC)
Total value borrowed (TVB) surged 45.7% QoQ to $958.3M, reflecting renewed leverage appetite and higher capital efficiency
Partnerships with SafeBlock and RedStone Atom improved accessibility and risk control
XRP ended Q3 at $2.85 (+27% QoQ), with $170.3B circulating market cap (+29% QoQ)
XRP futures listed (Apr–May ’25), positioning XRP for potential U.S. spot ETF approval in Q4–Q1
Ripple’s RLUSD reached $88.8M on XRPL (+34.7% QoQ), the network’s largest stablecoin
XRPL hit an all-time-high RWA cap of $364.2M (+215% QoQ), led by tokenized treasuries, commercial paper, and real estate
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On October 29, 2025, the Ethereum Foundation launched its “Ethereum for Institutions” portal, making its intent explicit: Ethereum aims to be the liquidity layer for the global digital economy. The strategy is simple and directional. Build around four pillars that institutions care about most: Real-World Assets and stablecoins, DeFi, compliant privacy, and the Layer 2 ecosystem.
Real-World Assets and Stablecoins
Ethereum already hosts the bulk of tokenized finance. About 75% of tokenized RWAs and 60% of global stablecoin supply live on Ethereum. Eight stablecoins form the core base layer of liquidity: USDT, USDC, USDe, DAI, USDS, PYUSD, USDtb, and FDUSD. This liquidity now fuels productive capital. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has $1.58 billion in AUM. Maple Finance reports $1.82 billion in active loans across Ethereum and Layer 2 networks. The pipeline from traditional balance sheets to onchain markets is real and measurable.
Defi as the Capital Machine
Composable protocols have turned Ethereum into a full-stack market. Lending, staking, and derivatives interoperate, allowing desks to hedge, finance positions, and reuse collateral. This comes to life through the protocols that price risk, route liquidity, and manufacture yield.
Aave sets the standard for decentralized lending with more than $40 billion in TVL and a conservative risk culture that institutions recognize.
Lido anchors the staking economy through stETH. It remains the default for liquid staking and a key monetary primitive for ETH.
Maple Finance brings private credit onchain. Its pools enable overcollateralized lending with programmatic reporting and verifiable performance.
Pendle makes yield a tradable building block by splitting principal and yield. Desks can now hedge, speculate, or structure rate exposure directly onchain.
EtherFi brings institutional staking and corporate cards built for treasury teams. Choose custodial or non-custodial, earn programmatic rewards on stablecoin and LST balances, and use LSTs as collateral for credit lines and settlement liquidity.
Aerodrome is the liquidity layer of Base, designed to return 100% of fees to token holders. Incentives align around governance, order flow, and sustainable liquidity.
Compliant Privacy
Trillions do not move without privacy that regulators can audit. The Foundation’s Privacy Cluster is building toward that outcome. The Kohaku wallet framework focuses on privacy-preserving standards that still allow necessary visibility. Railgun and Aztec Network are positioned to support institution-grade confidentiality without sacrificing compliance.
The Layer 2 Frontier
Scale comes from rollups that inherit Ethereum security and liquidity. Linea, Starknet, Base, Ink, Unichain, and Scroll are highlighted as dependable places to deploy. Frameworks such as Arbitrum, OP Stack, zkSync, and Polygon reduce time to market. Case studies encompass both permissioned and permissionless designs, including Layer 1s that have migrated to Layer 2 models.
Where We Stand
In 2017, institutions discovered Bitcoin. In 2025, they plan to rebuild the financial system on Ethereum. Ethereum now holds the deepest pool of programmable liquidity and a track record that institutions can rely on to underwrite. The assets live here. The yields are created here. Privacy and compliance are converging here. The rails exist, and the liquidity is real. Ethereum is ready for the next wave of institutional finance.
