Defi Infrastructure Risk

Definition ∞ DeFi infrastructure risk refers to potential points of failure or weakness within the underlying systems that support decentralized finance applications. These risks can arise from smart contract exploits, oracle manipulation, interoperability issues between different blockchain networks, or centralized components within ostensibly decentralized protocols. Such failures can result in significant financial losses for users, compromise protocol integrity, and disrupt the broader DeFi ecosystem.
Context ∞ The current discussion around DeFi infrastructure risk emphasizes the importance of robust security audits, decentralized oracle networks, and resilient cross-chain communication protocols. A critical future development involves the maturation of risk assessment frameworks and insurance solutions designed to mitigate these inherent systemic challenges.