Ethereum's DeFi landscape keeps evolving, and tracking how the major protocols stack up matters if you're navigating this space. A quick look at some of the leading players reveals interesting patterns.

Morpho's been making noise in the lending layer, while Uniswap continues to dominate AMM flows across chains. Sky's governance model draws attention, and Maple Finance targets institutional borrowing in a different way. Balancer's liquidity management approach offers something distinct from traditional pools, whereas CoW DAO's solver-based settlement brings a fresh angle to trading.

On the LST and yield side, EtherFI's staking mechanics compete with other options, and 1inch keeps refining its DEX aggregation across the ecosystem. Yield Basis explores niche strategies that cater to specific market conditions.

What's worth noting: these protocols aren't all chasing the same metrics. Some optimize for TVL, others for user retention or transaction volume. The real picture depends on what angle you're examining—whether it's raw capital efficiency, governance participation, or actual trading activity. Comparing apples to apples in DeFi requires picking the right benchmarks first.