Opinion: DeFi Must Return to P2P Trading Roots for Mass Adoption

According to Cointelegraph, current mainstream DeFi protocols are gradually deviating from the original peer-to-peer (P2P) trading concept, shifting towards reliance on liquidity pools, external oracles, and automated market maker (AMM) models. While this shift enhances capital efficiency, it results in users losing the ability to choose collateral and manage risks autonomously. Additionally, the risk of centralized oracle manipulation increases system vulnerability—recently, Hyperliquid Exchange faced a trust crisis due to human intervention in oracle pricing, causing its total value locked (TVL) to plummet from $540 million to $150 million.

Industry analysts point out that the design of liquidity pools is making DeFi increasingly similar to traditional financial systems, violating the core principles of "open transparency and permissionless interaction." The early P2P lending model allowed borrowers and lenders to autonomously negotiate collateral types and interest rates through smart contracts, a user-driven mechanism more aligned with the spirit of decentralization.

Despite recent impressive data (Aave's TVL surpassing $40 billion, Uniswap's cumulative trading volume reaching $3 trillion), the market urgently needs to rebuild a true P2P system: users should have the right to choose assets, set trading terms autonomously, and break free from reliance on centralized oracles. Only by returning to a transparent, flexible, and user-driven essence can DeFi achieve widespread adoption.