From the Trump family to trillion-dollar assets on the blockchain, the wave of integration between traditional capital and DeFi is coming

As the crypto market moves from enthusiasm to rationality and from concept speculation to value precipitation, the blockchain ecosystem is quietly undergoing a qualitative change. In the past few years, DeFi (decentralized finance) has reshaped the rules of the game in traditional finance with its permissionless financial protocols, allowing funds to flow freely around the world. At the same time, the exploration on the RWA chain is trying to break through the barriers between the traditional financial system and the blockchain world, mapping trillion-dollar real assets to the chain, and further releasing financial efficiency.

In this transformation, the flow of capital often implies future trends. Recently, the frequent layout of WLFI, owned by the family of former US President Donald Trump, in the blockchain field has become the focus of market attention. In particular, the continued increase in the SEI network not only reflects WLFI's long-term optimism about the DeFi and RWA tracks, but also reflects that traditional capital is accelerating its penetration into the on-chain world, injecting new narratives and confidence into the crypto market.

Trump family bets: capital, technology and "political premium" resonate

According to on-chain data, WLFI has made several large purchases on the SEI network. In the past two months alone, it has purchased SEI tokens twice, with a total amount of more than $225,000. It is worth noting that WLFI is not just a financial investor. The political influence of the Trump family behind it has given this series of moves a deeper meaning in the market.

In the crypto world, capital inflows often represent bets on future expectations. When such inflows come from capital that has close ties with the U.S. political community, they are more likely to be interpreted as a kind of "political endorsement." The Trump family's favor for SEI not only adds capital power to SEI, but also adds a "political premium" invisibly, attracting the attention of more traditional investors.

However, WLFI's entry is not blindly profit-seeking, but a strategic choice based on SEI's technical advantages and ecological potential in the fields of DeFi and RWA. SEI is becoming a hot "new infrastructure" in the DeFi and RWA track with its high-speed throughput, low cost and financial-grade infrastructure.

Technology field: high throughput + low cost, ideal soil for DeFi and RWA

In the process of DeFi and RWA on-chain, the performance and cost of the public chain are crucial. The core advantage of SEI is reflected in its efficient and low-cost trading environment, making it an ideal carrier for financial-grade applications:

5 Gigas per second throughput: SEI can process thousands of transactions per second, far exceeding Ethereum and most public chains. This high performance gives it a significant advantage in high-frequency trading and liquidity protocols, and is particularly suitable for high-frequency liquidation scenarios in DeFi.

Native transaction matching engine: SEI's built-in on-chain transaction matching mechanism optimizes order execution efficiency, significantly reduces slippage, and improves capital utilization. This technical advantage makes it more competitive in on-chain order book DEX and RWA asset settlement.

Extremely low transaction costs: SEI's gas fee is much lower than Ethereum, which allows DeFi and RWA projects to operate at a lower cost, attracting a large number of developers and institutions to settle in.

This series of technical features of SEI not only enables it to perform well in the DeFi track, but also provides a solid foundation for the on-chain mapping and circulation of RWA assets.

DeFi explosion: Focus on ecological data

SEI's DeFi ecosystem is experiencing explosive growth. According to the Q4 data report released by Messari, SEI's on-chain transaction volume in the fourth quarter of 2024 reached approximately US$1 billion, of which 65% came from DeFi protocols. TVL (total locked volume) increased by 3830.9% year-on-year to US$250 million. This means that even in a market environment with volatile currency prices, real capital inflows on SEI are still rising sharply.

In terms of specific protocol performance, the DeFi activity of the SEI ecosystem continues to rise:

• DragonSwap: As the flagship DEX of the SEI ecosystem, its average daily trading volume increased by 815.9% in Q4, exceeding US$10.1 million, and market activity continued to rise.
• Yei Finance: SEI's native lending protocol, which accounted for 88.7% of SEI DeFi active addresses (DAA) in Q4, with a TVL of more than 210 million SEI, becoming one of the largest DeFi platforms on the SEI chain.
• Pit Finance: As a yield aggregator, its TVL reached US$12.3 million at the end of Q4, showing strong capital attraction.

It is worth noting that although the token price of SEI fell by 14.4% in Q4, the TVL denominated in SEI increased by 17.1%, which means that more capital is continuing to flow into the DeFi ecosystem on the SEI chain. This positive cycle of funds and applications not only strengthens the financial foundation of the SEI ecosystem, but is also expected to further support the value recovery of SEI tokens.

RWA Financialization: Bridging the gap between on-chain and off-chain assets

In addition to DeFi, SEI is accelerating the on-chain layout of RWA assets and building a connector between the real world and on-chain finance. In SEI's RWA ecosystem, multiple projects are exploring the application scenarios of on-chain financial assets:

• Elixir: Introducing fastUSD into the SEI ecosystem, providing on-chain stablecoin settlement services for RWA assets, and enhancing the stability and reliability of on-chain financial transactions.
• Filament Finance: Through the on-chain liquidity protocol, it provides more efficient trading and settlement capabilities for RWA assets, accelerating the mapping and circulation of traditional financial assets to the chain.

At the same time, mainstream trading platforms are also increasing their investment in the SEI RWA track. The $1.5M SEI DeFi Season event initiated by Binance Wallet has attracted a large number of TradFi (traditional financial) institutions. This shows that SEI's layout in the RWA field is gradually gaining favor from traditional capital.

Future Outlook: Potential Stocks for On-chain Financial Infrastructure

With the parallel explosion of DeFi and RWA, SEI is gradually establishing its position as an on-chain financial infrastructure with its strong technical foundation and ecological growth. In the future, with the launch of the Giga upgrade, SEI's transaction throughput will increase 50 times, further enhancing its competitiveness in financial-grade applications.

WLFI's continued bet on SEI is not only a recognition of its technological potential, but also likely to herald the deep integration of on-chain finance and traditional capital on the SEI network. As the on-chain mapping of RWA assets continues to accelerate, SEI is expected to become the core bridge between traditional finance and the DeFi world, playing an increasingly important role in the global financial landscape.