A Web3 developer friend told me: "The most painful thing about creating DeFi protocols now is multi-chain compatibility. Each chain has its own lending protocol, and the data structures are all different. Want to unify risk control? It's harder than building a rocket." The developers understand that kind of helplessness. That's why @0xSoulProtocol wants to create a "lending operating system." It doesn't aim to steal users but connects protocols like Aave, Compound, Venus, etc., under a cross-chain liquidation framework. For developers, one interface handles multi-chain liquidity; for users, one account manages all-chain lending. This is not a bridge; it's a new layer of credit. Now, let me share my latest observations on @0xSoulProtocol: 1/ Recently, Soul Labs released the first Protocol Update #1, synchronizing the community with the current work, challenges, and plans in a quarterly format. The team is increasing transparency and leaving themselves "room for retrospective adjustments." 2/ In this round, the most notable point is: the team continues to emphasize the stability and security of the cross-chain messaging layer and unified liquidation layer — meaning that the mainnet launch is not just a formality but needs a closed-loop mechanism. 3/ It's worth noting that Soul's testnet has welcomed 235,000 users, 107,000 unique wallets, and over a million transactions — this indicates decent early enthusiasm, but whether the traffic converts to mainnet usage will depend on whether the experience is stable. 4/ Additionally, Soul's Public Sale has successfully raised about $6M to advance cross-chain lending, identity systems (SBT / Soulbound Token), and mainnet deployment. This shows that capital has some confidence in its vision. 5/ In interviews on X Spaces, the team repeatedly emphasized a key structure: lending protocols are not being replaced but connected. The assets you collateralize in Aave can be used as collateral for loans in BSC / Venus, etc., without needing to move the assets across chains. 6/ The core design in this is a combination of "signal cross-chain + local assets + unified liquidation": Assets do not cross chains → Reduces bridge risk State, positions, and health are synchronized through the messaging layer Liquidation actions are unified at the Soul layer, not dispersed across chains 7/ The developer's perspective: This design's ambition is significant; it aims to dismantle the problem of "cross-chain lending = fragmentation" from the root. If achieved, it could become the infrastructure for future DeFi lending, not just another protocol. But the risk points are also evident: cross-chain message delays, replay/failure, price source desynchronization, inter-chain latency arbitrage... these could all become "gray rhinos" during liquidation. The performance after the mainnet launch will be the toughest test of the team's capabilities. 8/ I suggest everyone focus on these KPIs in the coming weeks: Cross-chain message success rate and latency (especially how it performs under extreme network congestion) Time from liquidation trigger to completion / cross-chain discount Number of underlying lending protocols/chains integrated Can the SO token buyback / protocol fee distribution mechanism be fulfilled? 9/ Finally, I want to say: One of the killer categories of DeFi in the multi-chain era is "borderless lending," not just a simple cross-chain bridge. The vision and path of Soul Protocol seem to be moving in this direction. The next few months could be a watershed moment for it to either "deliver value" or "be slapped by reality."