Barter Research
Barter is a research-driven DeFi team studying how onchain liquidity actually moves on Ethereum. Our work covers idle and private liquidity, intent-based execution, DEX aggregation, stable-to-stable swaps and MEV, and wallet-native yield models — the layers that decide who gets the better price and who captures the value behind every fill.
DeFi Is Addicted to Loops
Looping is the most natural trade in on-chain credit — and the most fragile when the borrow leg floats. Why fixed-rate, fixed-term lending changes the game for leverage in DeFi.
7 min to read
The Intent Economy: Single-Chain vs Cross-Chain
A collaborative research piece by Barter and Across. One intent abstraction, two execution surfaces: how single-chain solvers and cross-chain relayers source liquidity, compete, and converge.
11 min to read
Fixed-rate lending: the long road to predictable credit
DeFi has $40B in lending TVL and less than 0.5% of it is fixed-rate. A look at why every previous attempt missed and what an architecture that doesn't miss looks like.
8 min to read
DeFi Wasn't Built for This
A collaborative research piece by SQD & Barter. DeFi was designed for humans; autonomous agents break every assumption. We map the three layers — data, routing, liquidity — where the cost compounds.
10 min to read
The Idle Liquidity Paradox
$4.10B in stablecoins held by 31,949 active DeFi users on Ethereum — foregoing $169.9M a year in yield. Not because they are unaware of DeFi, but because their wallets run operational flow that existing yield models break.
12 min to read
Private Liquidity: Ethereum's Most Understudied Layer
The increasing share of trades executed through DEX aggregators has significantly changed the rules of the game, allowing DEXs to focus on providing the most competitive exchange rates rather than attracting users to their UI.
18 min to read
DeFi Trends for 2026: Stablecoins, Execution, and Wallets
Throughout 2025, Barter conducted a multi-domain analysis of key trends reshaping DeFi architecture. Using proprietary research, on-chain data, and reports from leading institutions, we examine how liquidity flows and execution layers are shifting.
12 min to read
State of Stableswaps
Stable-to-stable swaps are a vital yet underexplored primitive essential to maintaining the stability of the broader stablecoin ecosystem. In this paper, we examine the current state of stable swaps.
16 min to read
Intent Auctions Breakdown
In DeFi, intents shift the focus from how a transaction is executed to what the user actually wants to achieve. Instead of sending a specific on-chain transaction, a user signs an off-chain intent that defines the desired outcome, for example, "swap 1 ETH for at least 1,600 USDC."
6 min to read
Intents Ecosystem Landscape: Mapping the Future of DeFi
Our team sincerely hopes that the old-school DeFi community is as tired of memes as we are, so we've prepared an Intent Landscape Mapping. It's been a while since Intents have been in the spotlight, but we remain 100% committed to this narrative.
4 min to read
Coincidence of Wants research
We have taken a close look at the 'Coincidence of Wants' concept in DeFi swaps analyzing 25 random blocks (19063173 - 19063198).
5 min to read
Superposition WhitePaper (PDF)
Superposition introduces a fundamentally new approach to decentralized trading and liquidity provision, addressing key inefficiencies in existing protocols.
14 min to readBlog
Barter 2025: Year in Review
This year was the moment Barter stopped being just a solver – we flipped the DeFi narrative and set out to invent something fundamentally new. From Superposition launch to $33B in routed volume.
5 min to read
Barter x 1inch
In this case study, we explore how 1inch intent-based swaps work today: execution dynamics, the economics of resolver competition, and the governance framework of UP – and share what it means for Barter to join this exclusive set of resolvers.
6 min to read
5 min to read