Liqwid 2025-26 12-Month Product Development Roadmap
Liqwid’s Evolution Since Mainnet Launch:
Since the Liqwid protocol's initial deployment on Cardano mainnet in Q1 2023 the Core Team has committed to securely innovating in Cardano smart contract development. Through engineering approaches which maximize the power of the UTxO accounting model the Liqwid DAO Core Team has built multiple DeFi product features that were not possible before Cardano staking and Plutus smart contracts.
It has been an incredible journey—full of excitement, learning, and growth. Building on Cardano has presented unique challenges as we advanced through uncharted territory to implement the first UTxO pooled lending protocol design in Plutus smart contracts. Through diligent software design and engineering the Core Team successfully implemented multiple onchain lending product feature innovations never built before Liqwid. After a successful first year of continuous improvements to the protocol’s app and infrastructure we set our sights on further innovation with the introduction of Liqwid V2. The majority of items on the ambitious Liqwid V2 roadmap have been delivered and most notably a tenfold increase in transaction speeds and app user experience.
Liqwid DAO Core Team has also taken the V2 implementation as an opportunity to refine our vision and strategy as we progress towards our ultimate goal of building the most secure, fast, and simple to use DeFi lend-borrow protocol.
Enhancing user experience via the app user interface and API has always been a top priority for the Core Team. Earlier this year, we launched a newly redesigned app dashboard (Liqwid app) to streamline the lending and borrowing interfaces, reduce friction completing market actions, and maximize the app’s ease of use. Interface improvements to the Staking and Governance pages are also close to production-ready.
Over the past few months, we have adopted a “Mobile-First Design” approach to serve the growing number of mobile users interacting with the Liqwid app. Simultaneously, we optimized our backend infrastructure, significantly boosting transaction speeds and reliability. The Liqwid integration with Begin Wallet allows anyone to deposit stablecoins and instantly begin earning yield directly from their mobile device. In the future we’ll look to extend wallet integrations with the ability to easily borrow, modify collateral and complete partial or full repayments.
To improve interoperability, we launched a public API—allowing third-party app and wallet developers to easily integrate with Liqwid markets and access the same backend services that powers our web app.
Throughout our journey a security-first mindset has remained the most critical item. The Liqwid protocol’s onchain codebase has been audited by Vacuumlabs and a 2nd security audit completed by MLabs is nearing completion. All issues discovered during security audits have been either fixed or acknowledged. As technical stewards of the protocol we focus on building secure smart contracts that safely custody Liqwid user’s assets. Security will continue to be the cornerstone of the Liqwid DAO Core Team’s development strategy.
Liqwid V2 also brought the implementation of several risk management security features including supply caps and borrow caps to limit protocol exposure to any one asset. An additional oracle security feature introduced last year are hardcoded upper and lower price bounds as a last-resort protection in case of oracle failures. These measures are designed to ensure the Liqwid protocol’s resilience in the face of unpredictable market events.
Data-Driven Security and Decision-Making
In recent quarters, we have prioritized enhancing the Liqwid protocol's data layer. This effort focuses on three key areas: oracles, real-time application data, and analytics. These domains will remain central to our development strategy moving forward.
1. Oracles
Major advancements to fortify our oracle infrastructure include:
Price Collision Algorithm: Implemented in the Liqwid V2 oracle bot (rebuilt in TypeScript using Lucid), this algorithm detects discrepancies between price feed sources. If a deviation exceeds the defined percentage threshold, onchain price updates are paused, the Liqwid DAO Core Team is alerted, and a manual verification step is required. The price collision algorithm ensures only accurate prices are published onchain.
Onchain Price Feed Integration: As part of our V2 infrastructure upgrade, we have added direct support for onchain price feeds to enhance data diversity and reliability.
2. Real-Time Application Data
To empower users to make data-informed decisions, we have focused on improving the provisioning of real-time blockchain data through several initiatives:
Betterfrost: A faster, resource-efficient alternative to Blockfrost, offering a plug-and-play chain data API.
Cube: A caching and buffering layer we are exploring to sit between Cardano DB Sync and client code, accelerating database queries.
Revamped Architecture: Flattening the web application architecture, experimenting with advanced caching solutions, and testing third-party open source softwares for greater performance.
3. Analytics
Delivering advanced analytics and historical data on all market actions is a key milestone in our Cardano DeFi journey. We've also launched detailed reporting in the app that includes essential protocol metrics and comprehensive transaction histories—empowering users with deeper insights and enhancing transparency. This is just the beginning, and we are committed to continuously building on this data analytics foundation in the months ahead.
Looking Ahead: Liqwid V3
A key focus in our upcoming 12-Month Product Development Roadmap is the development of Liqwid V3, a comprehensive reimplementation of our current Plutarch smart contracts written in Aiken.
Scaling and Optimizing Smart Contracts
Combining over 2.5 years of accumulated experience since the initial Liqwid mainnet launch we are implementing our new Liqwid V3 smart contracts in Aiken to include:
Increased security through onchain code readability and multiple third-party security audits.
Enhanced user experience via transaction queuing to minimize errors.
Decentralized batching via a governance-approved set of Cardano Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) serving as Liqwid validators.
Interoperability via onchain protocol UTxO ownership.
Streamlined upgradability through delegated script patterns.
A major product and feature that will be implemented as part of Liqwid V3:
Liqwid Prime (Permissioned Markets): These markets will support whitelisted money markets, allowing for regulatory-compliant DeFi with KYC-enforced access. This opens the door for institutional capital to enter the Cardano DeFi ecosystem at scale and Liqwid to begin offering crypto prime brokerage services for global financial institutions. Liqwid Prime advances the protocol closer to the ultimate goal of bridging TradFi and DeFi on Cardano.
Accrued Interest Distribution Enhancements: Today loan interest accrues continuously but can only be realized by LQ stakers and the DAO treasury when loans are repaid or liquidated. With this upcoming feature accrued interest allocated to LQ stakers and the DAO Treasury can be automatically realized onchain. The ability to realize accrued interest on a fixed schedule in an automated approach unlocks more consistent cash flow distributions. A proposal has been published recently for this. Liqwid V3 aims to effectively automate this process onchain).
What’s Coming in the Next 12 Months
Here’s a snapshot of our key priorities for the year ahead:
Finalize the MLabs Smart Contract Security Audit: Since Liqwid V1 deployment on Cardano mainnet in Q1 2023 we have made iterative smart contract improvements. Earlier this year, we initiated a comprehensive security audit—reviewing the entire onchain codebase and enhancing smart contract documentation. This process has helped our Core Team build out a highly productive and efficient software development model for building Liqwid V3.
Develop Liqwid V3: Feature scoping, coding, and testing is expected to continue through 2026. Smart contracts are being developed in Aiken, with internal proof-of-concept testing already underway. A more comprehensive V3 roadmap detailing best-estimate timelines for delivering major milestones (e.g. code completion and start of smart contract audits) will be published in the future.
Deploy RWA Markets with a TradFi Partner: Bridging DeFi and TradFi has always been one of the ultimate strategic goals for Liqwid. Our vision is to offer lending infrastructure for RWA markets—separate from CNT-based markets—by partnering with established TradFi actors who bring deep experience in corporate lending and with the credit risk expertise necessary to originate RWA-backed loans. Thanks to its modular architecture, Liqwid can support a wide range of products with segregated risk profiles, making it ideally suited for institutional capital. This last step is seen as a turning point for Liqwid and Cardano DeFi. It would position the protocol as a fintech platform with prime brokerage services. RWAs as collateral on Liqwid has the potential to attract a broader range of institutional and non-crypto-native investors. More information on Liqwid RWA markets can be found in the article posted on the governance forum here. Liqwid co-founder Florian Volery was recently interviewed with Dapp Central and provided a comprehensive outline of the strategic steps in place for launching RWA markets which can be seen here.
Launch the Tokenized Gold Product: Following a previous Catalyst proposal in Fund13, we are working to issue a gold-backed Cardano native token which will be pegged to the price of gold. Liqwid DAO Core Team is working in collaboration with TradFi partners who will serve as liquidity providers and market makers, helping ensure the product gains immediate traction onchain. In parallel, we are developing smart contracts in Aiken to handle the minting and burning of the tokenized gold CNT. More details on this product will be shared throughout the year.
Create a Bitcoin DeFi Aggregator: With the emergence of multiple Bitcoin bridging solutions built on Cardano—Liqwid is well positioned to capture market share in this expanding segment by enabling bridged BTC as collateral to borrow ADA and stablecoins. We are developing a dedicated interface within the app tailored for Bitcoin holders looking to lend, borrow stablecoins and trade within the Cardano DeFi ecosystem.
Infrastructure Enhancements and API Expansion: The backend infrastructure powering Liqwid is just as critical as our smart contracts and oracle systems. We are constantly enhancing our capabilities, especially in historical data tracking, analytics, and developer tools. Our goal is to deliver a seamless devX to enable Cardano DeFi and wallet teams to easily build on top of or integrate with the Liqwid protocol. Developers will have the ability to easily build lending, borrowing and other market actions directly into their product with ease.
Conclusion
More than two years into our journey and our commitment to building innovative UTxO DeFi products on Cardano remains stronger than ever. With Liqwid V3, RWA market initiatives, Bitcoin DeFi and a continued focus on data and infrastructure, we are pushing the boundaries of decentralized finance—not only within Cardano but across the broader blockchain ecosystem. Liqwid DAO Core Team would like to take this moment to thank everyone within the Liqwid ecosystem for your unwavering support as we embark on our product focused roadmap for 2025-26. We are just getting started.