What does five years mean on the DeFi battlefield?

We’ve seen too many lending protocols bloom and wither—launching with great fanfare, their TVL dropping to zero in six months, and their communities dissolving within a year. Few protocols survive a full bull and bear cycle; perhaps one in ten makes it through.

An established lending protocol just celebrated its fifth anniversary. While this milestone doesn't necessarily speak to cutting-edge technology, it does prove one thing: amid liquidity crises, frequent hacks, and tightening regulations, it found a way to survive.

Survival itself is DeFi’s rarest skill. The veteran projects still running have, in a sense, become living fossils of the space.