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In a recent discussion with Global Crypto News, Curve founder Michael Egorov highlighted the ongoing value of decentralized finance (DeFi) over the speculative trends seen with memecoins.
DeFi vs. Memecoins: A Comparative Analysis
During the 2021 peak, often referred to as the “crypto summer,” decentralized finance took center stage. DeFi tokens surged to all-time highs, promoting the narrative of the “future of finance.” Fast forward to this year, and memecoins have dominated the spotlight, amassing billions in market cap and creating overnight millionaires as well as burned investors.
Despite the buzz around memecoins, Egorov believes DeFi deserves more attention. “I strongly disagree that innovation is not happening in DeFi. It does! The market just does not recognize it enough. Take Pendle, which deals with interest rate markets, or Ethena, a stablecoin leveraging shorts and Ethereum staking – both are excellent examples of ongoing innovation,” Egorov shared.
The Role of Real-World Assets in DeFi
DeFi ecosystems, particularly Ethereum, are often considered prime hubs for improving existing financial instruments like bonds, equity, stocks, and real estate. The concept of tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) holds a $7.3 billion market value. Experts predict that the RWA crypto industry could hit $16 trillion by 2030 and $30 trillion by 2034.
Egorov noted that Ethereum and the broader web3 economy could potentially operate a full tokenized RWA ecosystem. However, regulatory and compliance requirements have hindered progress so far. He added, “This would probably enable those RWAs to be used in more permissionless products, expanding their integration within the DeFi ecosystem.”
Addressing Web2 Vulnerabilities
In the exclusive interview, Egorov also emphasized the need for decentralized technology to address web2 vulnerabilities. His comments were in response to compromised domains stemming from a Squarespace registrar issue that impacted protocols like Celer Network and Compound Finance.
“The real dealbreaker would be native support of ENS and similar decentralized DNS services by major browsers. And yes, decentralized hosting would be a very nice addition. This would eliminate most of the web2 issues,” Egorov argued.
The Open Network (TON) and Its Potential
Shifting focus to Telegram and its growing status as a crypto powerhouse due to The Open Network (TON), Egorov stated that TON has unlocked a new user set now experiencing DeFi applications. Despite challenges in building dapps on TON, he noted that the blockchain presents an opportunity for native DeFi development and Ethereum Virtual Machine support.
“DeFi apps have a very good chance of gaining traction in the TON ecosystem as soon as it can be fully launched (which, from what I hear, could be the case very soon),” Egorov mentioned.
Tap-to-earn mini-games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat have already attracted millions of daily users, active wallets, and airdrop hunters to TON’s ecosystem.
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