Many believe that complete decentralization of finance is inevitable, but there are three major obstacles that must be overcome for DeFi to surpass traditional payments. Firstly, gaining consumer trust and buy-in is difficult as people may prefer to use third-party financial services. Secondly, financial institutions are hesitant to adopt DeFi due to increased fraud risk and potential revenue loss. Lastly, the lack of government oversight is a challenge as it may be difficult to enact legislation and consumer protection agencies without a centralized system. While DeFi presents challenges for regulators, some level of centralization may be necessary to prevent tax evasion and criminal activity. A balance between decentralization and centralization is needed to create a fully realized payment solution.

A popular trend kicked off by the Compound Protocol in the Spring of 2020 was governance tokens for DeFi protocols. The dream of governance tokens was a beautiful ideal. Simply by using a protocol, you would automatically and freely receive ownership of it. Decision making around the protocol would be decentralized allowing thousands and ultimately millions to have their say and vote on changes to the protocol.

According to DefiLlama data, the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols on the entire network reached 56.5 billion US dollars on February 1, including: Lido has the highest TVL, at 21.4 billion US dollars, down 1% in the past 24 hours; Maker ranks second, at 7.6 billion US dollars, down 1.79% in the past 24 hours; AAVE ranks third, at 6.7 billion US dollars, down 1.58% in the past 24 hours.

DefiLlama data, the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols across the network on January 30th rebounded to $58.1 billion, of which: Lido has the highest TVL, at $21.8 billion, up 2.82% in the past 24 hours; Maker ranks second, with $7.9 billion, down 0.73% in the past 24 hours; AAVE ranks third, with $6.9 billion, up 1.94% in the past 24 hours.

According to DefiLlama data, on January 29th, the total locked value (TVL) of DeFi protocols on the entire network reached 56.6 billion US dollars, including: Lido has the highest TVL, which is 21.33 billion US dollars, and it has dropped 0.71% in the past 24 hours; Maker ranks second, with 7.99 billion US dollars, and it has dropped 0.93% in the past 24 hours; AAVE ranks third, with 6.77 billion US dollars, and it has dropped 2.07% in the past 24 hours.

According to DefiLlama data, on January 26th, the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols on the entire network rose to 55.3 billion US dollars, including: Lido has the highest TVL, at 21.2 billion US dollars, up 2.53% in the past 24 hours; Maker ranks second, at 8 billion US dollars, up 1.98% in the past 24 hours; AAVE ranks third, at 6.8 billion US dollars, up 2.96% in the past 24 hours.

POINTS² : web3’s attempt to lure LPs by gamifying protocol airdrops with referrals and ‘play to earn’ logic How DeFi becomes a playground for point hunters who seek to amplify their protocol airdrops by signing up their friends and family to earn ‘points squared’. DeFi represents a transformative shift moving away from Banks as we know them toward a less centralized model: peer-to-peer finance — where everyone can participate at any time.

According to DefiLlama data, on January 18th, the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols across the entire network exceeded 58.6 billion US dollars, including:<br>Lido has the highest TVL, at 23.7 billion US dollars, down 0.42% in the past 24 hours;<br>Maker ranks second, with 8.5 billion US dollars, down 0.18% in the past 24 hours;<br>AAVE ranks third, with 7.4 billion US dollars, down 0.58% in the past 24 hours.

Credit rating agency Moody's Investor Services issued a report on Monday warning that the adoption of tokenized investment funds is on the rise, but the "limited track record" of technology providers is increasing risk. Tokenized funds are investment funds whose units are represented digitally using distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to Moody's DeFi and Digital Assets team's report, an increasing number of tokenized funds are being adopted - primarily driven by tokenized funds investing in government securities such as bonds - signaling untapped market potential. <br>

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is urging policymakers to find ways to identify individuals involved in decentralized finance (DeFi) due to concerns over money laundering, terrorism financing, and fraud. The CFTC report suggests prioritizing digital identity, know your customer (KYC), and anti-money laundering (AML) regimes, as well as calibrating privacy in DeFi. Regulators are struggling to regulate DeFi due to the widespread use of pseudonyms to hide users' identities and the decentralized nature of the industry. The lack of clear lines of responsibility and accountability in DeFi systems is also a central concern for regulators.