Space Review｜When Trading Returns On-Chain, Decoding the Core Logic of the New Cycle DeFi Ecosystem

As market narratives gradually fade, the industry's focus is returning to its essence: trading activities are increasingly settling on-chain, and liquidity is beginning to shed short-term incentives, moving towards a healthier endogenous cycle. Amid this shift, the core question of the current cycle becomes: what kind of system can truly bear value and retain users?

Against this backdrop, DeFi, particularly decentralized trading systems, has once again become the center of discussion. This is not merely a rotation of hot topics but a structural shift in the underlying driving logic. This is precisely the critical phase the SUN.io ecosystem is entering—transitioning from an innovative concept to a genuine trading and financial protocol capable of bearing and circulating liquidity.

This edition of the SunFlas roundtable, centered on the theme "As trading activities return on-chain and liquidity begins its endogenous cycle, why is the core of the new cycle landing on the DEX ecosystem?", engaged in an in-depth dialogue with multiple industry observers and builders. Various perspectives collided and corroborated during the discussion, forming a consensus on the market's shift from "narrative-driven" to "structure-driven," and providing a deep analysis of how SUN.io is building a sustainable financial protocol ecosystem. Below are the key takeaways from this conversation.

When the Tide Recedes: Why is the Market Refocusing on the Value Essence of DeFi?

During the Space discussion, guests unanimously agreed that as market incentives recede and sentiment cools, the reason DeFi can return to the center of market discussion lies fundamentally in the industry's shift from being driven by sentiment and narratives to a renewed recognition of the value of sustainable, verifiable on-chain financial structures.

Tiantian pointed out that the overall contraction of market liquidity has led investors to focus more on "real value." She observed that current on-chain trading volumes have significantly shrunk; capital is no longer blindly chasing short-term trends but is instead paying more attention to projects with genuine trading, real settlement, and actual user demand. She believes the core mission of DeFi is precisely to credibly transplant traditional financial functions onto the blockchain through reliable smart contracts, thereby building a sustainable foundation that can operate continuously even in a capital-scarce environment.

OxPink further described this shift as a "return to value." He stated that after the market hype subsides, projects sustained solely by stories and subsidies are quickly eliminated, and the industry's gaze naturally focuses on systems that can stably execute trades and settlements regardless of market conditions. The logic of competition has thus fundamentally changed: from competing on narrative prowess to competing on who can provide real trading depth and settlement reliability.

Mr. Mith corroborated this trend from the perspective of market participants. He noted that even "airdropping" users now pay more attention to a project's core background and user experience smoothness, as narrative-driven projects can no longer easily gain market traction. The current discussion focus has shifted to structural issues like capital efficiency, protocol revenue, and risk control. He believes DeFi is returning to its essence as a "verifiable, sustainable" transparent financial infrastructure. Projects that can consistently generate fee revenue during bear markets and have been repeatedly validated by the market naturally return to the center stage during calmer periods.

In summary, the ebbing of market capital and sentiment has essentially completed a natural screening and value discovery process. The industry's focus has shifted from superficial price volatility and short-term stories to the most fundamental aspects of on-chain financial systems: reliability, sustainability, and real utility. The "return" of DeFi is, in reality, the market's reaffirmation of its long-term value as the infrastructure of the crypto world amidst cyclical fluctuations.

Building a Sustainable Ecosystem: Decoding SUN.io's Practical Path

As the discussion deepened, guest perspectives converged into a clear consensus: the market's driving logic is undergoing a fundamental shift from "narrative-first" to "structure-first." A healthy ecosystem capable of weathering cycles must be built on a foundation of real demand, transparent credibility, and efficient synergy. The standard for excellent trading systems has also shifted from conceptual innovation to stable, seamless, and reliable experiences. This dual evolution in understanding points to the core proposition of DeFi's new development stage—sustainability.

Overall, a sustainable ecosystem capable of weathering cycles is built upon three pillars:

1. Transparent and Credible Infrastructure

Wang Feng Anc pointed out that the underlying logic of ecosystem operation must be clear and verifiable, as this is the starting point for all trust. Web3 Caicaizi also stated that transparent on-chain settlement and verifiable trading activities are prerequisites for ensuring fund security and ecosystem health; any "black box" operations will expose fundamental flaws in the long run.

2. A Synergistic Network Driven by Real Demand

Guests unanimously agreed that false prosperity built solely on short-term incentives cannot last. A healthy ecosystem must have genuine trading demand and deep liquidity as its engine, forming a sustainable revenue and growth flywheel. Simultaneously, organic synergy between products and deep community governance form the skeleton of ecosystem evolution, ensuring efficient expansion during bull markets and endogenous resilience during bear markets.

3. Capital Efficiency Centered on User Experience

Mr. Mith approached this from the most direct perceptual level, noting that a system being "user-friendly" has become the basic threshold for user retention. This is concretely reflected in ultimate execution efficiency (low slippage, high fill rate) and smooth, stable interaction. At a deeper level, whether capital can be efficiently and repeatedly utilized within the ecosystem, rather than becoming statically deposited, determines the system's long-term appeal and liquidity depth.

This series of industry consensuses on sustainability finds systematic practice and reflection in SUN.io's development path.

In building transparent and credible infrastructure, SUN.io strictly adheres to the core principle of on-chain verifiability. All its trading and liquidity rules are defined and executed by smart contracts, allowing users to trace the flow and state changes of any fund. This thorough on-chain transparency is the first cornerstone of building trust.

Going further, SUN.io extends this principle to the ecosystem governance level by formally establishing the decentralized community organization SUN DAO. Composed of SUN token holders, this organization makes decisions on key proposals through a secure and transparent on-chain voting mechanism, truly realizing co-building, co-governance, and co-sharing of ecosystem development, placing the governance process itself within a transparent, publicly verifiable framework.

In driving real demand and building a synergistic network, SUN.io has successfully constructed a protocol matrix covering multiple scenarios. Its core product ecosystem includes: the decentralized exchange SunSwap, the Meme fair launch platform SunPump, the decentralized perpetual contract trading platform SunX, the stablecoin swap tool SunCurve, and the AI-powered toolkits SunAgent and SunGenX.

These products do not exist in isolation; they form organic synergy through sophisticated mechanism design: SunSwap provides the core liquidity and spot trading scenario, SunPump introduces new assets with community consensus, SunX meets users' advanced needs for leverage and risk hedging, while SunCurve ensures the efficiency and stability of stablecoin swaps—a fundamental need. The introduction of AI tools further lowers the barrier to user participation and enhances capital utilization efficiency through intelligent strategies. This synergy between products forms a reinforcing loop of mutual user flow and functional complementarity, allowing capital and users to seamlessly circulate within the ecosystem according to demand, collectively building a synergistic network capable of self-growth and continuous expansion.

Ultimately, all SUN.io's structural efforts in transparent infrastructure and synergistic networks serve a core goal: providing users with a trustworthy, seamless experience and creating highly efficient circulation paths for capital. Its product evolution logic clearly indicates that the true moat is not short-term incentive metrics, but the stable and reliable practical value presented after integrating on-chain verifiability, scenario synergy, and technical execution efficiency. This is the most direct response to the "structure-first" era.

Notably, SUN.io recently signaled a key development through its official X platform, announcing an upcoming Chinese brand upgrade and the launch of a new brand image. This move marks a new phase in its ecosystem development and demonstrates its determination to continuously strengthen strategic alignment and brand recognition while building a global decentralized financial infrastructure.

As this discussion revealed, the market's profound shift from narrative to structure is pushing DeFi ecosystems to evolve from trading venues into infrastructure that bears value and trust. Its core mission is no longer merely providing the concept of "decentralization," but building a transparent, efficient, and sustainable liquidity circulation system. As trading activities truly return on-chain, protocols that have systematically built verifiability, synergistic networks, and user experience will naturally become the core hubs and value carriers for liquidity in the new cycle.