DeFi 3.0 Risk Taxonomy and Pathways to Financial Resilience

Abstract

Blockchain-based decentralized finance (DeFi) is a major financial innovation, enabling transparency and inclusion through programmable rails. The transition to DeFi 3.0 defined by cross-chain interoperability, multichain ecosystems, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) broadens functionality yet introduces potential systemic vulnerabilities. Prior research often treats protocol exploits or single risk families in isolation, leaving no unified lens connecting DeFi risks to financial resilience. This study develops a unified DeFi 3.0 risk taxonomy and maps it to resilience capacities. Using a three-lane systematic literature review (peer-reviewed, grey literature, preprints; 2021-2025; 43 sources), we identify twelve risk domains in three categories: technology and data infrastructure; market and economic; and governance, legal, and operational. We then assess resilience along three capacities absorptive (stablecoins, automated market makers/AMMs, insurance), adaptive (regulatory alignment, RWA tokenization, AI integration), and transformative (transparency, inclusion, ESG alignment). The resulting framework operationalizes resilience theory via this taxonomy, providing a structured reference for regulators, developers, and scholars to support innovation while strengthening systemic stability.