On May 28, 2025, Katana blockchain launched its private mainnet, targeting enhanced institutional liquidity within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. This initiative, incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR Markets, includes strategic partnerships with prominent DeFi protocols such as Sushi, Morpho, Vertex, and Chainlink, aimed at addressing the fragmentation challenges in DeFi liquidity.
Katana’s private mainnet emphasizes yield optimization and liquidity management by aggregating liquidity across multiple DeFi protocols to minimize price slippage, a significant barrier for institutional adoption. The ecosystem is designed to enable deeper, more predictable liquidity pools facilitating efficient lending, borrowing, and trading of blue-chip digital assets without the need for cross-chain transfers.
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs and core contributor to Katana, highlighted the platform’s goal to create a sustainable, positive-sum yield environment for DeFi participants, moving away from short-term incentivization through high token emissions. Instead, Katana plans to reinvest network fees and application revenue into the ecosystem to maintain consistent, long-term yields.
The Katana Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to DeFi development, plans a public mainnet launch in June 2025. The platform’s unique yield compounding mechanisms leverage Ethereum-based opportunities and boost DeFi incentives across core applications like Sushi and Morpho.
The launch reflects growing institutional interest in DeFi, with surveys predicting institutional participation to triple within two years. However, regulatory uncertainty remains a major challenge for institutions considering DeFi engagement. Katana’s model aims to overcome these hurdles by offering a cohesive ecosystem that enhances liquidity, optimizes yield, and supports institutional-grade DeFi strategies.