Provides standards for use cases. The standards are implemented through smart contracts.

New York University

- Settlement layer
- Asset layer
- Protocol layer
- Application layer
- Aggregation layer

5 Layers of DeFi architecture (The DeFi Stack)

Schär, Fabian, Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain- and Smart Contract-based Financial Markets (March 8, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3571335 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3571335 



Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain and Smart Contract-based Financial Markets

This layer stores ownership information and ensures state changes adhere to the blockchain's ruleset

DeFi Settlement Layer

Contains all assets that are issued on top of the settlement layer such as the native protocol asset and tokens

DeFi Asset Layer

DeFi Protocol Layer

This layer contains the applications that connect to individual protocols such as front-end browser-based applications.

DeFi Application Layer

Includes user-centric platforms that allow users to connect to multiple applications or protocols. It can be seen as an extension to the application layer.

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