Decentralized Finance 正在複製 SaaS 與金融科技的劇本：模組化到超級應用

Exploring the evolution path of DeFi from the "splitting-reintegration" cycle, how it transitions from single-point primitives to modular financial Legos, and then to super applications. This article is based on a piece by Lorenzo Valente, published by ARK Invest, titled: DeFi Is Following The SaaS And Fintech Playbooks, organized, compiled, and written by BlockBeats. (Background: The father of DeFi is back! Andre Cronje's new project Flying Tulip aims to raise $1 billion) (Background supplement: A review of new projects by DeFi OGs: Curve founder creating BTC pool, Andre Cronje aims to build an all-in-one exchange) The development of the crypto industry has never been isolated; it often resonates with historical waves of technology. This article cuts in from the "splitting-reintegration" cycle of SaaS and fintech, deeply analyzing how this logic is replicated in DeFi and crypto applications. The author not only lays the groundwork with Web2 examples like Airbnb and Robinhood but also combines the evolutionary history of Uniswap and Aave, revealing how crypto protocols move from single-point primitives to modular "financial Legos," gradually integrating into super applications today. For readers trying to understand the future landscape of DeFi, this serves as a framework for observing the future through a historical lens. As the crypto industry matures, investors are beginning to look for clues from past technological waves to predict the next major trend or turning point. Historically, digital assets have been difficult to compare directly with previous technology cycles, making it challenging for users, developers, and investors to anticipate their long-term development paths. This situation is changing. According to our research, the "application layer" of crypto is evolving, and its model is quite similar to the "splitting-reintegration" cycle experienced by SaaS (Software as a Service) and fintech platforms. In this article, I will explain how the splitting and reintegration cycle in SaaS and fintech is replicated in DeFi and crypto applications. The evolutionary logic of this model is as follows: To understand the cycle of splitting and reintegration, the concept of "composability" is crucial. In the fintech and crypto communities, "composability" is a common analytical term that refers to how financial or decentralized applications and services—especially at the application layer—can seamlessly interact, integrate, and further build upon each other like Lego blocks. Based on this core concept, we will further analyze the evolutionary path of product structures in the two sections below. From vertical to modular: The great split In 2010, Andrew Parker of Spark Capital published a blog depicting how dozens of startups leveraged the "splitting" opportunity of Craigslist. At that time, Craigslist was a "horizontal" internet marketplace that offered a variety of services ranging from housing and part-time jobs to second-hand goods trading, as shown in the diagram below. Parker concluded that many successful companies—Airbnb, Uber, GitHub, Lyft—cut out a very small vertical from Craigslist's extensive functionality and greatly improved the user experience. This trend initiated the first wave of "market splitting": the large and comprehensive general-purpose platform of Craigslist was gradually replaced by applications focused on single-use. These newcomers not only enhanced the user experience (UX) of Craigslist but fundamentally redefined it. In other words, "splitting" deconstructs a broad platform into narrower, independently autonomous verticals, uniquely meeting user needs, thus disrupting Craigslist. So, what drove this wave of splitting? The changes in technological infrastructure are behind it. Advances in API (Application Programming Interface), cloud computing, mobile user experience, and embedded payments have lowered the threshold for building focused applications, enabling developers to launch more precise services with world-class user experiences. A similar split has also occurred in the banking industry. For decades, banks have offered a basket of financial services under the same brand and application—from savings, loans to insurance. However, over the past decade, fintech startups have gradually dismantled this bundling model in a "surgical" manner, with each focusing on a specific vertical. Traditional banks' "packaged services" include: Payments and transfers, Checking and savings accounts, Deposit growth products, Budgeting and financial planning, Lending and credit, Investment and wealth management, Insurance, Credit and debit cards. In the past decade, this "banking package" has been systematically split, giving rise to a large number of venture-backed fintech companies, many of which have grown into unicorns, decacorns, or even close to hectocorns: Payments and transfers: PayPal, Venmo, Revolut, Stripe; Bank accounts: Chime, N26, Monzo, SoFi; Savings and growth: Marcus, Ally Bank; Personal finance and budgeting: Mint, Truebill, Plum; Lending and credit: Klarna, Upstart, Cash App, Affirm; Investment and wealth management: Robinhood, eToro, Coinbase; Insurance: Lemonade, Root, Hippo; Cards and spending management: Brex, Ramp, Marqeta. These companies focus on a specific service area they can do better than traditional banks, leveraging new technology and distribution models to modularize growth-oriented financial services. In SaaS and fintech, splitting not only impacts incumbents but also creates entirely new categories, ultimately expanding the entire Total Addressable Market (TAM). From modular to bundling: The great reintegration Recently, Airbnb launched a "Services and Experiences" section and redesigned its application. Now, users can not only book accommodations but also explore and purchase additional items such as museum visits, food tours, dining experiences, gallery walks, fitness classes, and beauty treatments. Initially just a peer-to-peer accommodation trading market, Airbnb is gradually evolving into a vacation super application—it repackages travel, lifestyle, and local services into a unified, coherent platform. Moreover, over the past two years, Airbnb's products have long since surpassed home rental, gradually integrating payments, travel insurance, local tours, concierge tools, and curated experiences into its core booking service. Robinhood is also undergoing a similar transformation. Once, it disrupted the traditional brokerage industry with commission-free stock trading, and now it is expanding into a full-stack financial platform, reintegrating many vertical services that have been split by fintech startups. Over the past two years, Robinhood has taken the following actions: Launched Robinhood Cash Card for payments and cash management; Added cryptocurrency trading features; Launched retirement accounts; Introduced margin investing and credit...