DeFi’s Next Use Cases Could Span Payments, Lending and Tokenization

Decentralized finance (DeFi) could extend beyond trading into routine financial services, with cross-border payments, borrowing and tokenized products among the potential uses of blockchain-based tools.

Prediction markets have brought crypto activity to contracts tied to real-world events. Over a 30-day period, $102.4 billion in contracts were traded and about $25.7 billion was paid out. Those totals include centralized venues, so they do not measure DeFi activity alone.

Stablecoins had a $302.34 billion market capitalization, while DeFi’s total value locked was $88.49 billion. Tokenized real-world assets totaled about $34.61 billion onchain, with $4.12 billion active in DeFi. The figures measure different scopes: the larger total covers assets onchain, while the smaller one counts assets active in DeFi.

Potential uses go beyond trading. Stablecoins could provide a way to move money across borders, and onchain lending could offer borrowing and liquidity. Tokenization brings traditional financial products onto blockchain infrastructure. Consumer apps could let people receive payments, borrow or access investments without needing to understand wallets, gas fees or smart contracts.

Security, regulation and liquidity remain challenges for the sector. Payments, lending, tokenization and consumer apps are all potential directions, but which will lead DeFi’s next phase remains open.