DeFi Composability Got Complex

DeFi composability was supposed to be simple. Money legos snapping together. But the stack got so tall that nobody can see the whole picture anymore.

Try tracing the dependencies of a typical yield position. Deposit into protocol A which uses B for oracles and C for liquidations. C depends on D for price feeds. D aggregates from E, F, and G. One bug anywhere cascades through everything.

Risk assessment became nearly impossible. Traditional finance has complex dependencies too but they're documented and regulated. DeFi just emerged organically. Nobody mapped the systemic risks.

The flash loan attack surface expanded with composability. Each new integration point is a potential exploit vector. Attackers think in compositions that defenders never imagined.

Simpler positions have appeal. Direct exposure to one protocol rather than leveraged compositions across five. The yield is lower but the risk is actually understandable.

Some protocols are adding circuit breakers and isolation modes. Limiting how much can flow between integrated systems. Reducing composability intentionally for safety. Interesting tradeoff.