Compound Finance Overhauls Leadership, Aims to Woo Institutional Investors with Record Budget

Compound Finance has undergone a major leadership change and approved a record $52 million budget in an attempt to reverse its declining activity. The protocol's total value locked (TVL) has fallen from a peak of $12 billion in 2021 to around $1.2 billion, according to CoinDesk data.

The new executives bring experience from both traditional finance and crypto-native institutions, signaling a shift towards professionalizing operations and attracting institutional capital. Christopher Donovan, former Chief Operating Officer at the Near Protocol, Steven Liu, previously with Maple Finance, and Aaron Schnarch, former CEO of Coinbase Custody, have joined the team.

The $52 million budget is allocated to develop real-world asset (RWA) products, integrate with established financial partners, and build credit infrastructure that meets regulatory requirements. This strategy mirrors a broader trend in decentralized finance (DeFi), where protocols are targeting traditional financial institutions as a source of sustainable growth.