Ethereum Engine Reconstruction and New Trends in the DeFi Ecosystem

Recently, the founder of Ethereum proposed a significant technological proposal, while numerous new trends have emerged in the field of Decentralized Finance. This article will sort out and analyze these important developments.

Ethereum Engine Reconstruction Proposal

The founder of Ethereum recently proposed an important initiative, suggesting the use of the RISC-V architecture to replace the existing EVM as a long-term execution layer solution. This proposal mainly focuses on improving system efficiency to address the massive computing demands that may arise in the future and to break through the performance bottlenecks under the EVM framework.

It is worth noting that this change only involves the underlying execution engine and will not alter Ethereum's account model and contract calling methods. For ordinary users and developers, the interaction with smart contracts will remain unchanged.

This proposal aims to address the long-term verification difficulties or the need for special hardware support that the Ethereum execution layer may face. RISC-V, as a general-purpose and efficient computing model, has a more mature hardware and software ecosystem and is regarded as a feasible solution to these potential issues.

The proposal is currently still in the discussion stage, and if it is ultimately implemented, it is expected to be a major project with a relatively long cycle.

Ethena Chooses the Arbitrum Ecosystem

Ethena announced that its new public chain Converge will choose to join the Arbitrum camp, a decision that surprised many. Compared to OP Superchain, which has well-known projects like Unichain and Base, Arbitrum seems to be slightly at a disadvantage in terms of camp strength.

Arbitrum Orbit and OP Superchain, although both are L2-based scaling solutions, have differences in their design philosophy:

• Orbit allows developers to create L2 chains directly anchored to Ethereum or L3 dedicated chains anchored to Arbitrum.
• The OP Superchain concept aims to create a network composed of multiple parallel L2s, all based on a shared OP Stack standard code library.

In short, Orbit focuses more on vertical scaling, while Superchain emphasizes horizontal scaling. In terms of modularity and flexibility, both have their own strengths: Orbit emphasizes openness and supports various data availability options; Superchain focuses more on consistency with Ethereum and multi-chain standardization.

Current Status of Unichain Liquidity Mining

Unichain's current liquidity mining returns are acceptable, but users need to control the price range themselves. Compared to previous versions, the mining threshold and difficulty have both increased in the new version. Currently, the main participants are still concentrated among the old miner community, which has limited appeal to new users. This situation may hinder the further popularization of Decentralized Finance.

Ripple Stablecoin RLUSD Enters Mainstream DeFi

The stablecoin RLUSD issued by Ripple has successfully entered mainstream Decentralized Finance protocols:

• Aave has incorporated RLUSD into version V3
• Curve has deployed a $53 million liquidity pool for RLUSD.

Stablecoins have once again become the focus in this market cycle. Whether in a strict or lenient regulatory environment, this sector can always find room for development.

Optimism Launches SuperStacks Event

Optimism has launched an event called SuperStacks to warm up for the upcoming Superchain interoperability feature:

• Event time: April 16, 2025 to June 30, 2025
• Encourage users to participate in DeFi activities on Superchain to earn XP points.
• The protocol can stack its own incentive measures.
• The official statement indicates that this is a social experiment and there will be no token airdrop.

Users interested in the development of Superchain can participate, such as mining in Unichain while earning XP points. The interoperability of Superchain has always been a point of concern, and the potential changes it may bring after its official launch are worth looking forward to.

BalancerV3 Launches on Avalanche

BalancerV3 has officially launched on the Avalanche network and introduced an AVAX token incentive program. Although the rewards are considerable, the overall scale is limited. As an established DeFi project, Balancer has not managed to become an industry leader like Uniswap or Aave, but it is still actively developing, including collaborations with ecological projects and continuous updates and iterations.

Circle Launches CPN Network

Circle has launched a network called CPN, aimed at creating a compliant, seamless, and programmable framework that aggregates financial institutions. The network plans to coordinate global payments through fiat currencies, USDC, and other payment stablecoins.

The design goal of the CPN network is to overcome the numerous obstacles faced by stablecoins in mainstream payments, such as unclear compliance requirements, technical complexity, and the secure storage of digital cash.

The primary goal of the network is to solve the cross-border payment issue, aiming to replace traditional payment methods that are slow and costly. At the same time, CPN also offers programmability, which is expected to promote the adoption of blockchain technology. This initiative may also encourage more countries to issue compliant stablecoins.

Competition in Cross-Chain Bridges Intensifies

Competition in the cross-chain bridge field is becoming increasingly fierce:

• GMX chose LayerZero as the messaging bridge for its multichain expansion plan.
• Renowned investment firm a16z crypto purchased $55 million worth of LayerZero tokens and locked them for three years.
• Wormhole releases future planning roadmap

Cross-chain bridges are an essential track with exceptionally fierce competition. Most projects primarily rely on transaction fees for profit, which may lead to continuously decreasing costs, benefiting users. However, for protocols seeking integration, stability and security remain the top priorities.

Spark deploys funds to Maple

Spark (a project under MakerDAO) has deployed funds for the first time in the non-U.S. Treasury sector, investing $50 million into Maple, with a cap set at $100 million.

Maple is a platform focused on connecting on-chain and off-chain unsecured lending, with main products including Maple Finance and the derivative platform Syrup. The core of Maple is the Pool Delegates mechanism, which are typically held by reputable institutions or trading companies responsible for managing loan pools, assessing borrower creditworthiness, setting loan terms, and more.

Maple, as an established project, was controversial due to its business model in the last market cycle. However, with changes in the compliance environment and user perceptions, its model has gradually gained recognition. Nevertheless, Spark's decision to deploy funds to Maple is still regarded as a higher-risk move.