
Haotian | CryptoInsight|May 12, 2025 06:37
Recently, @ Lorenzo Protocol completed a strategic upgrade, transforming from a simple BTC liquidity re staking protocol into an institutional level on chain asset management platform? With this strategic adjustment, its ambition is no longer limited to providing liquidity services for the Babylon ecosystem, but has locked onto the over $1.6 trillion DeFi cake on the chain. What is the logic behind it? Let me share my observation:
1) The BTCFi track led by Babylon was once highly anticipated by the market, and Lorenzo Protocol, as a benchmark project in the Babylon ecosystem, successfully completed TGE (TGE oversubscribed 183 times, with a BTC management scale of $600 million).
Indeed, Lorenzo relies on the Babylon Chain shared security mechanism in terms of technology, and its stBTC is also needed for the liquidity of the Babylon ecosystem. However, this does not mean that Lorenzo can only belong to or be willing to serve the Babylon ecosystem. Therefore, this strategic upgrade will not be abrupt, but rather demonstrates Lorenzo's intention to lock in a broader on chain application market through the liquidity solution stBTC.
2) How to understand the overall architecture of Lorenzo's upgraded institutional level asset management platform? Simple understanding: Lorenzo is now the on chain version of "Goldman Sachs" - with his left hand connected to funding sources (BTC, stablecoins) and his right hand connected to profit strategies (staking, arbitrage, quantification), and then packaged into standardized profit products for other applications to integrate.
Simply put, its core innovative feature is the positioning of its new Financial Abstraction Layer, which empowers a wider range of application scenarios with institutional level fund management capabilities and a rich variety of income products, rather than being limited to vertical cultivation of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
3) In the new architecture design, Lorenzo built a four layer system, namely: the bottom layer strategy layer, which provides different risk levels of return strategies; Financial abstraction layer: standardize strategies uniformly; Financial product tokenization: encapsulated as OTF (On Chain Trading Fund); Application integration layer: Implement one click integration with multiple application scenarios such as PayFi, wallet, RWA platform, etc.
The most noteworthy among them is its newly launched OTF (On Chain Trading Fund) concept, which provides tokenized return strategies such as fixed income, principal protection, and dynamic leverage to ordinary users through a tradable unified token, similar to ETFs in traditional finance.
The OTF model implements the entire process of "on chain fundraising off chain execution on chain settlement", enabling centralized financial strategies such as quantitative funds, credit portfolios, or market making to be on chain. Each OTF product is tokenized in the underlying system, and OTF tokens (liquid collateral tokens) are minted when purchasing, allowing ordinary users to easily access complex trading strategies like buying ETFs.
Compared to the LST model on Ethereum, Lorenzo's innovation lies in the extreme modularity of financial products. The output of APIs and SDKs allows partners to quickly launch profitable products without the need for self built strategies. This new architecture directly addresses the shortcomings of relying solely on stBTC products in the past, and the new service strategy targeting the institutional market can also maximize the commercial prospects of the market.
4) So, the uniqueness of its business model lies in redefining the role boundaries of LP and Yield Source. Previously, everyone was competing for LP funding, but Lorenzo innovatively introduced a dual end operation model - attracting both funding and strategy parties. For example, EtherFi giving ETH to Lorenzo is LP, Lorenzo pledging ETH to EtherFi again, and EtherFi is Yield Source. This model is similar to traditional financial market makers, who buy with their left hand and sell with their right hand to earn profits from spreads.
5) Why is Lorenzo convinced that the new strategic positioning will have a different market space? The reason for this is that currently, many application scenarios lack a robust and reliable on chain financial infrastructure. For example, RWA platforms often suffer from low interest rates of 3-5%, which are not attractive enough, while PayFi applications hope that the scenario of paying while earning can become a reality, and so on.
In the long run, Lorenzo's transformation reflects an industry trend - DeFi is evolving from a "peer-to-peer" direct matchmaking model to an "platform empowered" indirect service model. The hybrid financial model design of OTF's on chain fundraising off chain execution on chain settlement combines the execution efficiency of CeFi and the transparency of DeFi, and may become the main form of financial technology in the future.
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