Dimension 12: Cascade Exposure
Extrinsic systemic risk: upstream dependency failures that propagate into this protocol, and downstream blast radius if this protocol fails.
What We Measure
We map the cross-protocol dependency graph to measure two distinct risk vectors: upstream exposure (how many critical dependencies could fail and cascade into this protocol) and downstream blast radius (how many protocols break if this one fails). This is distinct from D4 Compositional Risk, which measures a protocol's intrinsic integration surface. D12 captures extrinsic systemic risk — the cascade propagation paths that bypass per-protocol circuit breakers. We analyze shared collateral dependencies (e.g., stETH used across 12+ lending protocols), oracle provider concentration (Chainlink feeds consumed by 40+ protocols), bridge trust chains (LayerZero/Wormhole message integrity), governance overlap between protocols, and liquidity dependency chains where lending protocols depend on DEX liquidity for liquidation execution.
What Raises This Score
Minimal upstream dependencies on systemically important protocols
No downstream protocols that would break if this protocol fails
Self-sovereign pricing (protocol is oracle source, not consumer)
Isolated architecture with no shared collateral exposure
Independent liquidity that doesn't depend on specific DEX pools
Protocol-specific circuit breakers that prevent cascade propagation
No governance coupling with other protocols
What Lowers This Score
Collateral that is systemically important across DeFi (stETH, USDe, cbETH)
Dependency on a single oracle provider shared with many protocols
Restaking or shared-security model that propagates slashing events
Bridge dependency for cross-chain operations or governance
High downstream protocol count that would cascade on failure
No per-protocol circuit breakers to contain upstream failures
Governance mechanisms coupled to other protocols (shared voting tokens)
Why This Weight
At 5%, Cascade Exposure is weighted conservatively because the cascade risk data is structural — derived from dependency graph analysis rather than PoC-validated exploit chains. As cross-protocol exploits are validated, this weight will increase. Despite the low weight, the dimension produces meaningful differentiation: Lido scores 48 (massive blast radius) while Uniswap V4 scores 100 (isolated). The geometric mean formula ensures even a 5% weight produces visible BRI impact for highly exposed protocols.