The global financial market is experiencing a subtle tug-of-war. The latest minutes from the Federal Reserve show that policymakers still have concerns about the stubbornness of inflation, leading to a drop in market expectations for an interest rate cut this month from 90% to less than 70%. This directly ignited selling pressure on risk assets, with Bitcoin briefly dropping below $91,000, and the overall cryptocurrency market cap evaporating over $50 billion. Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East are escalating, the European energy crisis is looming, and the uncertainty of the new U.S. government's policies makes the entire market feel like it's walking a tightrope. On one side, institutional funds are cautiously observing, while on the other, retail investors are buying the dip at low levels. With the dream of interest rate cuts shattered, is the bear market just beginning to warm up?
When talking about the DeFi track in 2025, the most eye-catching might be @Falcon Finance . This project takes an unconventional approach, maximizing the concept of 'universal collateral': whether you have BTC, ETH, SOL, TON, or even on-chain RWAs (real-world assets) tokens, as long as they are liquid assets, you can put them into their protocol and exchange them for USDf, a synthetic dollar stablecoin. It sounds simple, but it fundamentally moves the traditional financial concept of 'collateral' onto the chain. You don't have to sell your assets to borrow liquidity, and you can continue to enjoy the dividends of asset appreciation.
In less than a year since the project launched, the circulation of USDf has already surpassed 2 billion USD, and the TVL has easily reached the billion level. Why is it so strong? The core lies in its 'sustainable yield' logic. Ordinary stablecoin protocols either rely on high-risk arbitrage or subsidized mining, and the returns are gone after a wave. Falcon Finance goes against the tide: through institutional-level trading strategies (such as cross-chain arbitrage, basis trading, liquidity provision, etc.), it has made USDf's yield sustainable at an annualized rate of 8%-12%. Plus, sUSDf (staking version of USDf) can automatically reinvest, truly realizing 'Your assets, your yields'.
More importantly, #FalconFinance is not satisfied with being a 'closed garden'. It actively reaches out with open arms, deeply binding with a group of heavyweight partners, constructing a cooperative network covering DeFi, CeFi, and even the real world:
In deep integration with leading liquidity protocols such as Pendle, Curve, and Balancer, USDf can directly participate in LP mining and fixed income pools, greatly enhancing capital efficiency;
Partnering with BitGo for asset custody, Chainlink provides price oracles and reserve proofs, ensuring that every 1 USDf has real and verifiable over-collateralization behind it;
By connecting to AEON Pay, the global network of over 50 million merchants can finally use USDf and $FF tokens directly for real-world payments. This is considered a milestone in DeFi;
Collaborating with Kaia Chain, we push the mobile entry to 250 million users; we also co-create governance mechanisms with DeXe Protocol, allowing the community to truly participate in protocol upgrades;
Recently, we partnered with Etherfuse to include emerging market RWAs like Mexican sovereign bonds (CETES) in the collateral list, further opening the floodgates for institutional funds.
These partnerships are not merely 'mutual links', but real and substantial complements: Pendle brings traffic to Falcon, BitGo provides security endorsement, AEON gives real-world landing scenarios, Kaia brings user scale... The result of mutual empowerment is that Falcon Finance actually runs faster during the bear market. Compared to projects that rely on airdrops and subsidies to sustain themselves, Falcon resembles a 'stable cash flow machine'. The protocol itself can generate real yields, rather than relying on storytelling.
Universal collateral sounds beautiful, but once the market fluctuates violently and collateral prices plummet, the system's liquidation pressure can instantly amplify. Fortunately, Falcon Finance has put effort into risk control: dynamic over-collateralization rates, real-time reserve dashboards, and third-party audits, along with endorsements from institutions such as DWF Labs and World Liberty Financial, provide a relative sense of security.
