Compound Tunes Out Retail, Cranks Up Institutional Push
Compound Finance has announced a major pivot towards institutional investors as it looks to revive adoption and strengthen its protocol. The DeFi lender approved a $52 million DAO budget and overhauled its leadership, launching its largest development program yet. This effort focuses on real-world assets, partnerships, and credit infrastructure for traditional financial institutions.
The move comes as Compound's assets locked have plummeted to around $1.2 billion from a peak of $12 billion in September 2021. Despite processing roughly $480 billion in deposits and borrowing since its launch in 2018, the protocol has lost ground to larger rivals.
With this new direction, Compound aims to attract more institutional investors and revitalize adoption. The funding and leadership changes signal a significant shift towards institutional credit on-chain.