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Ethereum is changing parts of finance by letting software handle some transactions and services that traditionally rely on intermediaries. Its smart contracts support applications for lending, trading, payments and tokenized assets—but that activity is not proof that Ethereum has replaced conventional finance, or that using it is risk-free.
What Ethereum is—and what it is not
Ethereum is a blockchain platform on which developers can deploy applications. ETH is Ethereum’s native asset; it is distinct from the platform and from the many independent applications built on it. Those applications can also operate on related networks, so not every project described as part of the Ethereum ecosystem necessarily runs directly on Ethereum mainnet.
One foundation of these applications is the smart contract: software that performs programmed functions on a blockchain. It can carry out tasks that conventional financial services often assign to an intermediary. That can change how a service is delivered, but it does not remove every organization, dependency or legal arrangement behind a product.
How does DeFi work?
Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a group of financial products and services built with cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Ethereum.org describes uses including borrowing, lending, trading and payments. A user interacts with an application and its contracts rather than relying on a conventional financial institution to perform every step.
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“Decentralized” is not a guarantee that a particular service has no central control or operational dependencies. Projects differ in their governance, code, custody arrangements and reliance on other services. Users may also have to trust technically skilled people who can inspect the code; public availability or community scrutiny does not guarantee that code is free of defects.
What can you do with DeFi?
Borrow, lend and trade
DeFi applications can let users lend digital assets, borrow against collateral, or trade through decentralized exchanges. These services depend on software and the assets involved. Collateral values can change, and a position may be affected by market conditions or the rules built into a protocol.
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Make payments
Ethereum can be used to transfer value, including through stablecoins—tokens designed to track the value of a reference currency or asset. Ethereum.org says users need a wallet to send or receive Ethereum payments. A wallet is the means of interacting with the network; that requirement does not by itself establish that a particular wallet type or brand is necessary.
Represent assets as tokens
Tokenization represents assets as digital tokens. A 2025 written submission hosted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says tokenization can enable fractional ownership, increase liquidity and streamline transactions. Those are claims made in the submission, not SEC findings or a guarantee that any specific token offers those benefits. Whether a token confers ownership rights depends on its legal structure and issuer terms.
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Institutional examples on Ethereum
Ethereum’s institutional portal lists examples spanning payments, bonds and stablecoins. They illustrate experiments and deployments reported by the ecosystem; they do not show that all projects use the same technology, operate on the same network, or serve retail customers.
| Institution and date | Asset or use case | Network arrangement and status |
|---|---|---|
| Visa, 2024 | Tokenization platform | The portal lists a platform launch; it does not specify a network arrangement or establish its current operational status. |
| Siemens, 2023 | €60 million digital bond | The portal lists the bond issuance; the cited page does not state a network arrangement or current status. |
| Société Générale, 2025 | Euro- and dollar-denominated stablecoins | The portal reports integration with Uniswap and Morpho; the cited page does not specify a network arrangement or establish current operational status. |
These descriptions reflect what the Ethereum institutional portal lists, not an independent assessment of impact. A launch, issuance or reported integration should not be read as evidence that a product is currently available to every user.
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- Tap once to manage your entire crypto wallet across 90 blockchains - no USB cables or Bluetooth, no batteries, no setup. Access 14,100+ coins & tokens, DeFi, NFTs, and staking instantly from your phone
- Smart backup: Use your second Tangem Wallet as your Backup keys with end‑to‑end encryption; no more papers, pictures. If one card is lost, the remaining can still restore full access, with an optional seed phrase available for advanced users.
- Engineered to last up to 25 years: Waterproof (IP69K), shockproof and tested for extreme temperatures from −25°C to 50°C. A durable cold wallet with long‑term protection and independently audited security.
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What the ecosystem metrics can—and cannot—show
On October 8, 2026, Ethereum for Institutions displayed $52.2 billion in DeFi total value locked, a 56% share of global DeFi TVL, and $1.64 billion in average 24-hour decentralized-exchange volume over a 12-month average. The page identifies DeFiLlama as the source for its overview. These are dynamic ecosystem estimates, not audited or universal measures of financial adoption; their scope and values can change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Risks to understand before using Ethereum finance
- Code and protocol risk: Smart contracts can contain defects. Reading public code or seeing it scrutinized does not eliminate that possibility.
- Market and collateral risk: Token prices can move sharply, and lending applications may depend on collateral values and protocol rules.
- Stablecoin and liquidity risk: A stablecoin may not maintain its intended peg, and a token may be difficult to sell at an expected price.
- Custody, bridge and user-error risk: How assets are held, moved between networks, and authorized in a wallet can introduce different failure points. A wallet alone does not protect against a faulty contract, a market loss or a mistaken transaction.
- Governance and regulatory risk: Projects can depend on governance decisions or operational actors, and the applicable regulatory treatment may vary. The cited sources do not quantify the likelihood or scale of these risks.
For a tokenized asset, review the issuer’s terms and legal documents to understand what rights the token actually represents. For a DeFi service, understand which assets, contracts and network arrangements it relies on before committing funds.
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Sources
- Ethereum.org’s DeFi explainer describes DeFi services, smart contracts, wallets and risks.
- Ethereum for Institutions’ DeFi page lists institutional examples and displays dynamic ecosystem metrics.
- A 2025 written submission hosted by the SEC discusses possible benefits of tokenization; SEC hosting does not imply endorsement.
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