Recently, when researching the long-term patterns of cross-chain DeFi, Folks Finance stands out as a representative sample. It is not a short-term project of a new cycle, but an established protocol that has been developed for over five years and has grown from the Algorand ecosystem. Today, it is gradually evolving into a cross-chain DeFi center covering multiple chains, with a core focus on lending, and extending to trading, leverage, and liquid staking.
Folks' emphasis is not on the 'cross-chain narrative,' but on solving the most practical issues of the multi-chain era—liquidity fragmentation. Its cross-chain lending model allows users to deposit assets on one chain and directly borrow assets on another chain without the need for traditional cross-chain bridges or wrapped assets. The ongoing xChain V2 further optimizes the cross-chain market structure, enhances efficiency, and prepares for more chains and complex strategies.
From an overall perspective, Folks is not only targeting existing on-chain users. The Folks Mobile in development, in collaboration with licensed VASP, aims to create a compliant and user-friendly mobile crypto entry point that integrates asset management, cross-chain access, and yield opportunities. Combined with the currently covered multiple mainstream networks and infrastructure support from Wormhole, Chainlink, Circle, etc., Folks resembles the construction of a long-term scalable cross-chain financial foundation.
Past community data also supports this point. The first season incentive program distributed 1.5 million $FOLKS tokens to users, with a total value of approximately 21 million USD; the second season is currently ongoing, while also adding staking and creator incentive activities to provide continuous space for long-term participants.
Overall, Folks Finance leans more towards long-term infrastructure development rather than short-term hype projects, which is also the reason why several top-tier institutions continue to support it. It is worth observing as an object of evolution in cross-chain DeFi.
