Is the next generation of DeFi infrastructure here? An in-depth look at TermMaxFi and on-chain interest rate curves

According to Gate Market Data, as of February 25, 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) is priced at $82,136.20, down 2.21% in the past 24 hours; Ethereum (ETH) is priced at $1,914.41, up 4.93% over the same period. Amid the normalization of mainstream asset price fluctuations, the structure of crypto market participants is quietly changing. Short-term speculators focus on immediate gains, while long-term capital begins to seek cost stability and risk modeling. This shift in demand is driving DeFi from a pure “liquidity efficiency” competition into the next phase centered around “term-based pricing.” The emergence of TermMaxFi is a key infrastructure in this evolution.

From Floating to Fixed: The Inevitable Path of DeFi Evolution

Reviewing the development of DeFi lending protocols, three distinct stages are clearly visible.

Stage One: Liquidity First. Early protocols like Aave and Compound aimed primarily to improve capital utilization. Interest rates fluctuate in real-time based on supply and demand. This design works well in bullish markets seeking high yields but cannot solve a fundamental problem: assets can be held long-term, yet borrowing costs change at any moment. Floating interest rate models cannot support long-term planning.

Stage Two: Risk Control First. As the market grows, protocols begin to emphasize security and modularity to attract more conservative funds.

Stage Three: Term-Based Pricing First. We are entering this new stage. When lending shifts from “short-term liquidity tools” to “long-term financial instruments,” the market urgently needs to incorporate “time” as a variable in pricing. What TermMaxFi does is turn “maturity-based lending” from a concept into an executable structure, giving on-chain finance the embryonic form of an “interest rate curve.”

Core Mechanism of TermMaxFi: More Than Just Fixed Rates

Many people simply see TermMaxFi as a platform offering fixed interest rates, but its innovative logic goes far beyond that. Essentially, it is foundational infrastructure for on-chain interest rate layers, reshaping lending relationships through three core mechanisms:

• Dual-Mode Rate Aggregation: TermMaxFi does not completely abandon floating rates but creatively combines both. Users can lock in borrowing costs (fixed rates) while simultaneously deploying idle funds to protocols like Aave and Morpho to earn floating yields. This “low-cost borrowing while making idle money work” model maximizes capital efficiency.
• Integration of Real-World Assets (RWA): By partnering with protocols like Ondo Finance, TermMaxFi introduces traditional financial assets (e.g., stocks) as collateral for lending. This bridges the gap between crypto and traditional markets, simplifying cross-market operations and providing higher-quality collateral types for on-chain lending.
• Precise Deconstruction of Time Contracts: In the TermMaxFi model, lending is broken down into explicit time contracts—how long to borrow, how much to pay, when to settle. Interest rates are no longer vague supply-demand signals but clearly priced based on “time.” This allows both borrowers and lenders to strategize around fixed funding costs rather than passively reacting to market volatility.

Technical Support for the Interest Rate Curve and Ecosystem Role

According to a study on fixed-income AMM protocols, a single-contract model supporting “any maturity date” (such as BondMM-A) can realize multi-period fixed pricing within a single pool, with minimal deviation from theoretical market rates (around 1e-5), demonstrating effective pricing and financial robustness.

TermMaxFi plays a similar role. It is not only an independent decentralized application (DApp) but also a “Lego block” that other protocols can seamlessly integrate. Its value lies in filling a missing piece in the DeFi puzzle—the on-chain interest rate market.

When funds are split, quoted, and matched by maturity, several important changes occur:

• Strategies can be designed around periods rather than immediate rates;
• RWA financing can match real asset maturities;
• Leverage structures can be pre-calculated;
• Risk premiums can be developed around time.

Significance of TermMaxFi for the DeFi Ecosystem

Currently, leading lending protocols like Morpho, Kamino, and Euler have all prioritized “fixed rates” or “predictable rates” in their 2026 roadmaps. This confirms a trend: providing fixed interest rates to borrowers is key to attracting institutional capital and exploding the credit market.

The emergence of TermMaxFi accelerates and aligns with this trend. Its pain points are clear:

• For borrowers: it offers a predictable financing environment, enabling long-term, stable funding;
• For lenders: it transforms yields into predictable cash flows, a highly preferred asset attribute in traditional finance;
• For DeFi itself: it promotes the market’s evolution from a “casino” to a mature on-chain capital market.

As of January 2026, the total value locked (TVL) in TermMaxFi has exceeded $41.2 million, with community growth steadily progressing. These figures indicate a genuine market demand for “maturity structures.”

Summary

The formation of an on-chain fixed interest rate market is not a replacement for floating rates but a natural stage of financial maturity. Liquidity is the starting point; maturity structures are the destination. The path taken by TermMaxFi touches on the fundamental logic of finance—when time is priced, the financial system truly begins to operate. As the next-generation DeFi infrastructure, it is paving the way for the final shaping of the “on-chain interest rate curve.”