Compound was an OG of DeFi lending, but missteps have knocked it off its perch.
Compound was once the default answer for crypto lending in decentralized finance. Launched in 2018 by Robert Leshner and Geoffrey Hayes, the protocol lets users earn interest or borrow assets directly on Ethereum, in a fully decentralized manner, without banks or brokers.
For early DeFi users, it felt obvious. The project raised millions in backing from Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Crypto, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures.
Compound also helped popularize yield farming, especially after launching its governance token, COMP, in 2020, which turned passive users into active participants.
By 2021, Compound was the core infrastructure for crypto lending. Billions…
