Yield Compression
Yield compression occurs when the returns available to liquidity providers in a lending protocol decline significantly due to an oversupply of capital or a lack of borrowing demand. When too many users deposit assets into a pool, the utilization rate drops, causing the algorithmic interest rate to decrease, which in turn lowers the yield for everyone.
This is a common phenomenon in mature or saturated DeFi markets where the competition for yield drives down rates across the board. To combat compression, protocols often look for new use cases for their assets or expand into riskier, higher-yield markets.
Yield compression forces participants to seek out more efficient protocols or alternative strategies to maintain their desired level of return on investment.