Recently, I noticed a quite practical on-chain tool that talks about building a general collateral infrastructure. In simple terms, it means that the digital assets or even real assets you have can be used as collateral to exchange for a synthetic dollar called USDf.

What problem does this thing solve? The core is just two words: liquidity.

Holding onto ETH but reluctant to sell? Or do you have stocks and bonds in real life that you want to cash out but don't want to actually sell? By collateralizing them, you can exchange for USDf to use. Your assets remain in your hands, and you also have liquidity, without the painful feeling of having to sell at a loss.

What is the most stressful aspect of traditional DeFi collateralized lending? When the market drops, it could lead to forced liquidation. However, this system uses an over-collateralization model, combined with dynamic risk assessment. When the price of the collateral fluctuates, the system provides early warnings; if additional collateral is needed, it will be supplemented, preventing confusion and unexpected liquidation.

What's more interesting are the two characters "通用".

In the past, on-chain collateral was basically only recognized in cryptocurrencies, but this time, real-world assets have been directly included. The US stock ETFs and gold tokens you hold can theoretically be used as collateral. This changes the landscape significantly—it’s like building a bridge between on-chain and off-chain.

What can you do after getting USDf?

You can operate on various lending protocols, participate in trading arbitrage, and use the principal to mine in yield aggregators. It acts like a "asset conversion hub," activating the assets that were originally idle, and there are actually quite a few ways to connect them.

In terms of team configuration, it is said that there are people with traditional financial risk control backgrounds, as well as tech experts with experience in DeFi protocol development. I've heard that several exchanges are also in contact, wanting to see how to integrate. This combination at least doesn't seem to be purely conceptual.

The atmosphere in the community is alright now. Some people are posting about using stock tokens as collateral to exchange for USDf to participate in new coin mining, while others are using idle ETH as collateral for their alt accounts to do arbitrage. Most of the feedback is along the lines of "Finally, I don't have to worry about liquidity anymore."

Why do you think this direction is interesting?

Because it is not about those flashy financial games, but truly solving the practical problem of "assets not being utilized." The reality of on-chain assets + universal collateral, these two steps are solidly executed, not just a castle in the air.

I used to think that on-chain assets and real assets were two parallel lines, but now there are attempts to twist them together. For those who hold both cryptocurrencies and traditional assets, liquidity issues might really be solved in one go.

The participation threshold is actually not high. Just deposit some liquid assets on hand, and you can use it after exchanging for USDf. In the early stages, there are also liquidity incentive mechanisms, so the more you deposit, the relatively higher the returns, which is better than leaving it idle.

To be honest, being able to solve the long-standing DeFi problem of "asset liquidity" in such an innovative way really shows an understanding of user pain points.

Imagine a future scenario: your wallet holds ETH, stock tokens, and USDf that you have collateralized with them. If you want to participate in DeFi, you can use the USDf for operations; if you want to preserve your assets, you can continue to hold the originals. You can attack or retreat, this experience is indeed different.

The value of such projects may not lie in short-term speculation, but in the fact that they truly connect two worlds—on-chain efficiency and off-chain value. Following this logic, assets can truly "come to life" in Web3.