Standard Chartered Bank's Digital Assets Head Predicts Surge in TradFi Announcements for DeFi Access
Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets at Standard Chartered Bank, expects that the number of announcements regarding TradFi institutions accessing DeFi will increase by 10-20 times in the next 3-12 months.
This expectation is based on the current trend of accelerated integration between TradFi and DeFi.
Mechanically, traditional financial institutions are becoming major buyers, benefiting DeFi protocols and on-chain projects, with funds flowing from traditional custody to on-chain liquidity pools, putting pressure on the traditional banking system while blockchain infrastructure profits.
Source: Public Information
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Geoff Kendrick has long served as the head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, having accurately predicted institutional crypto adoption trends multiple times, including the path for institutional entry after the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in 2023-2024 and pilot projects for bank-issued stablecoins.
In terms of capital pathways, TradFi institutions like Standard Chartered are mobilizing on-balance-sheet funds through RWA, stablecoin issuance, and DeFi liquidity connections, motivated by capturing high DeFi yields while meeting regulatory requirements, with resources shifting from traditional credit to on-chain structured products, strategically positioning for compliant DeFi access in Asia and Europe.
Similar to the slow follow-up of institutions after the 2021 DeFi Summer and the rollout of RWA products like BlackRock BUIDL, TradFi is currently in an expansion phase from observation to large-scale access to DeFi.
Essentially, this represents a restructuring of the industry chain: TradFi institutions will deeply bind off-chain capital with on-chain protocols, breaking the isolation between traditional finance and DeFi through regulatory sandboxes and technological bridges, achieving global redistribution of yields and liquidity, and accelerating the transformation of traditional banks towards hybrid financial infrastructure.
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The slower TradFi enters, the more DeFi yields will be consumed by early capital.
Behind the 10-fold announcements is a quiet flow of 100-fold capital.
Regulatory compliance is not a barrier, but an accelerator for TradFi's access to DeFi.