Decentralized finance may be closer to broad acceptance than many realize, according to Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, though regulatory clarity and institutional integration are still major obstacles. In an interview with MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe published on YouTube, Nazarov estimated that progress toward mainstream uptake sits at roughly one-third of the way there, stating, “I think we’re about 30% of the way there.”

Nazarov believes DeFi — peer-to-peer financial tools built on blockchain — could reach about half of worldwide penetration once laws and guidelines can clearly define its reliability. His view aligns with comments from Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov, who argued earlier this year that regulatory ambiguity, KYC and AML compliance requirements, and questions around liquidity, transparency, and security continue to slow adoption.

US Regulation Could Trigger Global Acceleration

Nazarov expects the turning point to begin in the United States. He noted that regulatory clarity from Washington would likely ripple internationally, explaining that “a lot of governments follow what the US does because they want to be compatible with the US financial system.”

This follows remarks from Michael Selig, chief counsel for the SEC’s cryptocurrency task force, who recently commented that “when we’re thinking about DeFi, it’s something of a buzzword,” stressing instead the importance of assessing on-chain application features and whether intermediaries are involved.

Nazarov added that global participation could reach 70% once institutions have a streamlined, compliant path for deploying both their own capital and client funds into DeFi ecosystems. Full adoption, he argued, may only emerge once DeFi’s capital pool grows large enough to be meaningfully measured against traditional finance.

Full DeFi integration by 2030?

The Chainlink co-founder believes that once DeFi becomes comparable to legacy financial systems in sheer volume, charts illustrating the share of institutional capital held on-chain will become standard. He predicted, “I think we’ll be at 100% when you have those kinds of pie charts to show the percentage of client money or institutional capital that is in a DeFi system versus a TradFi system.”

He added that “I think there are going to be charts like this in 2030,” noting that although current ratios — such as stablecoins relative to the broader treasury market — remain small, the trend is moving in that direction, eventually shifting DeFi from early adoption into the mainstream.

As this momentum builds, DeFi lending platforms have already experienced rapid growth. Binance Research reports that lending protocols have expanded by over 72% since the start of 2025, climbing from $53 billion to more than $127 billion in total value locked.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/defi-global-adoption-regulation-institutional-funds-chainlink-founder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm606agSL1Q