DeFi in Q2 Review: The Rise of Stablecoins and Mainstream Financial Infrastructure

The second quarter saw a surge in stablecoin announcements, with major players like JPMorgan, Coinbase, and Anchorage Digital making significant moves. Despite this, the stablecoin market remains dominated by a few key players, with Tether and USDC holding the majority of the $250 billion in circulating supply. The emergence of yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized treasury products is creating new competition, but distribution and utility will ultimately determine the most valuable stablecoin. Meanwhile, the rise of mini-apps is bringing DeFi into the mobile age, making on-chain finance more accessible to users. Sophisticated capital structures are also returning to DeFi, with protocols like Resolv and Aave's Umbrella initiative offering features like tranching and yield optimization. The lines between 'crypto' and 'TradFi' are becoming increasingly blurred, with traditional assets moving onto new rails and users accessing both systems from a single interface. As DeFi continues to evolve, it's likely that Q2 2025 will be remembered as the quarter when the industry stopped trying to reinvent finance and started improving it, with a focus on building accessible, efficient, and global financial services at scale.