Compound's Institutional Market Launch Highlights Shift Towards DeFi-as-a-Service
Compound, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has launched an institutional market for USDC lending on its platform. This move marks a significant shift from a protocol to a service provider model, known as DeFi-as-a-Service (DaaS). The new market is designed specifically for institutional participants and offers loan-to-value terms at the top of Compound's own market range.
The market accepts only four collateral assets - ETH, wstETH, WBTC, and cbBTC - with corresponding liquidation factors ranging from 86% to 93%. A dedicated onboarding and support contact is available for institutional participants. The launch was oversubscribed, with participating firms including DeFi Saver, K3, KPK, and Yearn.
Compound's governance structure operates under a multisig arrangement that cannot currently be revoked by the protocol itself. This is seen as a transitional measure until further research is conducted.
In related news, Coinbase has expanded its USDC lending product to Brazil, using Morpho-powered vaults curated by Steakhouse Financial. The product offers no lock-up period and sets returns based on on-chain borrow demand rather than a fixed platform rate. Recent yields have reached up to 7.4% APY.