This week on Untangling Web3, Dan Hughes, founder of Radix DLT, explores the future of DeFi, scalability, and the barriers to mainstream adoption.

With over a decade of experience in blockchain infrastructure, Dan shares insights on what it will take to onboard the next billion users into DeFi while maintaining decentralization and security.

Key highlights:

• The Core Problem in DeFi Adoption: DeFi currently serves a niche audience of crypto-native users, leaving the majority of global finance untouched. The complexity of wallets, private keys, and transaction signing creates friction that prevents mainstream adoption. Without a more intuitive user experience, DeFi remains inaccessible to everyday users who expect seamless financial interactions.
• User Experience as the Key to Mass Adoption: Traditional banking apps provide a frictionless experience, while DeFi applications still require users to navigate MetaMask, seed phrases, and complex smart contracts. For Web3 finance to reach mass adoption, DeFi interfaces must become as intuitive as mobile banking apps, reducing the cognitive load on users.
• Scalability and the Infrastructure Challenge: Blockchain networks have struggled with scaling transactions while maintaining security and decentralization. The industry's obsession with incremental improvements—such as tweaking Ethereum’s EVM—has limited true innovation. Instead of patching existing architectures, DeFi needs a fundamental rethink of blockchain infrastructure, with scalability built from the ground up.
• The Future of DeFi and Real-World Use Cases: The long-term success of DeFi depends on moving beyond speculative trading and meme coins. Real-world asset tokenization, decentralized identity, and programmable financial contracts will be key drivers of sustainable growth. Institutions will play a role, but the industry must focus on building practical financial applications that serve real needs rather than catering solely to speculation.

DeFi is at a crossroads where it must evolve beyond speculation and deliver tangible financial products that rival traditional finance in usability and efficiency. User experience, security, and scalability must be prioritized to make DeFi truly accessible to billions of people.

The next five years will determine whether DeFi remains a niche financial experiment or transforms into a foundational component of the global economy.

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This episode is sponsored by the VeChain foundation. Learn more about VeBetterDAO here:

https://vebetterdao.org/

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Learn more about Web3 at:

https://untanglingweb3.com/

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Untangling Web3 is brought to you by hosts Jack Davies and Alec Burns, with music by Daniel Paigge. Got a question or topic suggestion? Send us an email at [email protected].

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The views we express here are our own, and do not represent the views of our employers. Nothing discussed or stated in the show should be considered advice.