Analysis context
USDS · SparkLend · Ethereum
You arrived with this market from the DeFi Navigator. The method below is unchanged and general; it describes what to ask — not how this market fares.
Open market detail & evidenceBack to the NavigatorApply the metrics framework to this market
Twelve dimensions, always in the same order
A review grid applied alike to protocols, tokens, stablecoins, DEXs, lending markets, chains and ecosystems.
Each dimension keeps three things apart: what to ask, which data can answer it here — and what even a clean answer still does not establish.
Of the 25 metrics in the catalog, this platform serves 15 as a live value. The rest are taught as concepts and explicitly marked as not tracked — they are given no invented source.
The twelve dimensions
01Market
Which market does the entity serve, how large is it, and what are the alternatives?
02Business Model
What is the entity paid for, and by whom?
03Technology
What infrastructure does the entity run on, and what does it inherit from it?
04Smart Contracts
Who can change the code, how fast, and with what warning?
05Tokenomics
How does supply arise, who holds it, and does the token capture value?
06Liquidity
Can the position be exited at the intended size?
07Economics
Is the yield explainable from the mechanics — and under which assumptions does it hold?
08Governance
Who decides, at what quorum, and how concentrated is voting power?
09Security
What is evidenced about the security posture — and what is merely not known?
10Dependencies
What does the entity depend on without saying so on its own surface?
11Regulation
Which activity, which entity, which jurisdiction, which framework — and what stays open?
12Institutional Impact
What follows from the preceding eleven dimensions for one's own organization?
Three views of the same risks
Three groupings on this site are called “dimensions”: the twelve dimensions of this analysis framework for studying an entity yourself, the twelve exposure indices of the metrics framework, and the thirteen “flags by dimension” on every market page. They answer different questions and are therefore cut differently. The table shows what belongs together by content.
| Market page | Metrics framework | Analysis framework |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol Risk | Technology | Security |
| Chain maturity | – | Technology |
| Market Risk | Tokenomics, Market structure | Tokenomics, Economics |
| Liquidity Risk | Liquidity | Liquidity |
| Data Quality | Data | – |
| Smart Contract Risk | Smart contract | Smart Contracts, Security |
| Oracle Risk | Oracle | Dependencies |
| Governance Risk | Governance | Governance |
| Counterparty | Counterparty | Governance |
| Custody | Counterparty | Business Model |
| Stablecoin Risk | Market structure | Dependencies |
| Bridge Risk | Dependencies | Dependencies, Technology |
| Regulatory Risk | Legal structure | Regulation |
| – | Operations | – |
| – | – | Market, Business Model, Institutional Impact |
The mapping is by content, not a conversion: flag points from the market page are translated neither into indices nor into framework findings. “–” means: this view has no dimension of its own for it.
Framework in detail →Metric catalog →International standards →Metrics framework and methodology →To the DeFi Explorer →To the Academy →