Paddle Finance launch on Berachain: Liquidity tools for assets most protocols ignore

Paddle Finance has launched on Berachain, bringing powerful liquidity tools to DeFi assets overlooked by most protocols.

While most DeFi protocols chase the same categories, such as blue-chip tokens, staking protocols, and liquid stablecoins, a different type of asset activity is growing behind the scenes. People hold NFTs, LP tokens, memecoins, and tokenized real-world assets in their wallets that represent value, but most of them sit unused because few platforms are built to support them.

Paddle Finance was designed for this gap; a lending and trading protocol built to unlock liquidity from non-standard assets. It operates on Base and Berachain, where activity is accelerating. Berachain alone has reached $2.69 billion in TVL. While others chase volume in familiar categories, PaddleFi focuses on helping users make use of what they already hold.

Why Berachain fits the model

Berachain stands out by tying liquidity to real utility through its Proof of Liquidity (PoL) model. This model rewards protocols based on genuine on-chain activity rather than passive staking, making it an ideal environment for asset movement and user engagement. 

Berachain has become a hub for NFTs, especially among degen communities, with projects like Steady Teddys, Bullas, Mibera, and Yeet. These collections are already utilized in PaddleFi for borrowing, OTC trading, and community liquidity programs.

On the technical side, Berachain is Ethereum-compatible, easing deployment, but its real value comes from supporting platforms like PaddleFi that focus on assets outside the ERC-20 standard. This alignment supports community-driven, organic asset growth rather than top-down design.

What PaddleFi actually does

Most DeFi platforms are built around standard tokens, which made sense when only those assets had enough liquidity to be useful. But NFTs now hold real value, RWAs are tokenized, and memecoins have strong communities. PaddleFi is designed to cater to these assets, offering:

• NFT lending via peer-to-peer and instant loan models.
  
• Trustless OTC trading for NFTs, RWAs, and tokens without centralized platforms.
  
• Basket collateral for bundling multiple assets into one loan or trade.
  

This model provides users flexibility without needing to sell or split assets, offering access to groups typically left out of DeFi, including collectors and small token holders.

$2.55 million TVL and growing

PaddleFi’s traction is measurable, with over $2.55 million in assets locked across its contracts. In April alone, the protocol processed over $3 million in volume, signaling strong growth in lending and OTC functions. This activity isn’t driven by generalized DeFi users but by NFT-native and degen communities on Berachain, who use “middle-class” NFTs, meme tokens, and early-stage RWAs with strong engagement but low market caps.

Berachain’s design aligns with this activity, valuing asset usage over appearance. PaddleFi enables these communities to engage with DeFi in ways that were previously unavailable, offering more utility than simply holding assets.

Filling the gap in Berachain’s ecosystem

Berachain already hosts protocols like Kodiak for swaps, Infrared for staking, and Honey for stablecoin liquidity. But it lacked tools for the assets that don’t fit into these categories — until PaddleFi. By connecting overlooked assets like NFTs and RWAs to functional tools, PaddleFi allows NFT holders to borrow without selling, RWAs to access capital without centralized approval, and smaller tokens to be traded directly without formal markets.

PaddleFi doesn’t seek to replace other dApps; it adds value by supporting asset types often ignored in traditional DeFi. In Berachain, where liquidity is high but fragmented, PaddleFi helps bring more capital into circulation.

The bigger picture

PaddleFi is building tools for a broader range of on-chain assets. As the definition of on-chain assets expands, platforms that support the long tail of assets — not just the top 10 tokens — will thrive. PaddleFi believes the future of DeFi is not just about liquidity but also about making a diverse range of assets liquid. And with its growing success, this bet is already paying off.

As Berachain scales, PaddleFi is well-positioned to deepen its reach. The upcoming launch of NFT-backed money markets will provide new opportunities for collections to tap into DeFi, with PaddleFi playing a key role. This infrastructure and community alignment offers a glimpse of the future of DeFi: fast, flexible, and designed for assets that don’t fit the traditional mold but still deserve a place in the ecosystem.