Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov predicts that DeFi will soon fully integrate with institutional finance, potentially expanding its scale tenfold overnight as institutional capital enters the space. He highlights that while DeFi currently serves high-risk speculators, the next growth phase will be driven by institutional clients and real capital inflows. Products like Aave Horizon are already blurring the lines between traditional and decentralized finance. Nazarov envisions a future where institutional finance, DeFi, and on-chain and off-chain systems merge into a single, unified financial system.
In his latest speech, Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov stated that the future of DeFi is not just an experimental ground for crypto players, but a global system that will soon be fully integrated with institutional finance.
“If institutional clients can transfer some of their Treasury bond yields into DeFi, this move alone would be enough to expand the size of DeFi tenfold overnight—although yields would decrease, that would be a sign of maturity.”
He pointed out that DeFi currently mainly serves high-risk speculators (the Degen community), while the core driving force for the next stage will come from institutional clients and real capital inflows .
Sergey emphasizes that the emergence of institutional DeFi products like Aave Horizon signifies that the boundaries between traditional finance and decentralized finance are disappearing.
“Ultimately, the institutional world, the DeFi world, and the on-chain and off-chain world will merge into a single financial system.”
