Traditional financial giants, holding trillions of dollars in capital, are constrained by compliance shackles; DeFi pioneers possess innovative technology but struggle to gain mainstream recognition. This divided landscape has long existed, like an invisible chasm, becoming the biggest theme of the current cycle and the coming years, blocking the inflow of trillion-dollar institutional funds.

Just last week, Ethena Labs and Securitize jointly launched Converge, a traditional finance and digital dollar settlement network. The vision is to provide the first blockchain settlement layer designed specifically for the convergence of TradFi and DeFi.

The era of traditional finance and DeFi integration may be just around the corner.

Cracking the Three Major Dilemmas of RWA Development

Facing the trillions of dollars in the traditional financial market, DeFi's current TVL of $100 billion seems insignificant. Moreover, traditional financial institutions are not unwilling to enter the market, but lack a compliant and efficient access channel. The existing public chains' shortcomings in KYC verification and transaction monitoring have deterred institutional investors with substantial funds.

Ethena and Securitize's joint launch of the Converge mainnet is precisely targeting this structural opportunity.

Converge's positioning is very clear: a Layer 1 blockchain designed for RWA and compatible with EVM.

The problem it aims to solve directly addresses the core issues facing RWA development - creating a settlement platform that can both meet financial institutions' compliance requirements and fully leverage DeFi's decentralization advantages.

In the officially released information, Converge's solution demonstrates a systematic approach:

First, technical infrastructure upgrade. By creating a high-quality EVM-compatible public chain, reducing cross-chain asset friction costs.

Second, compliance framework construction. This brings up Ethena's old partner, Securitize, an American investment platform backed by BlackRock. Securitize's BUIDL fund is currently the largest RWA fund, with a TVL of $1.2 billion. Last year, Ethena had already collaborated with Securitize to launch USDtb stablecoin, backed by asset tokenization from the BUIDL fund. This time, they will introduce Securitize's regulatory technology module in Converge, achieving full-process compliance coverage from KYC certification to transaction monitoring.

Lastly, ecosystem collaborative construction. Currently, in asset custody, institutions like Copper, Fireblocks, Komainu, and Zodia have joined, providing guarantees for institutional funds to enter safely. In the DeFi protocol sector, top protocols such as Aave, Ethereal, Maple Finance, Morpho, and Pendle have already participated, promising to build and distribute institutional-level DeFi products on Converge.

Thus, forming a three-dimensional layout of "technology + compliance + ecosystem", creating a unique competitive advantage.