DeFi continued its march toward maturity in 2025 as institutional adoption of RWAs accelerated, perp DEXs hit record volumes, and onchain credit rebounded in H2 with Aave, Morpho, and Maple leading lending growth. The year highlighted a more durable DeFi equilibrium, where maturing primitives and deeper institutional alignment drove scale, while composability risks underscored the need for stronger systemic guardrails.