Sun Raghupathi is CoFounder and CEO of Veda.

DeFi is living through interesting times: record adoption, proven infrastructure, institutional interest—but low sentiment and struggling token prices. Sun calls this "the enterprise era for DeFi," where protocols that don't have a B2B strategy for the largest financial institutions may not survive. But here's the opportunity: for the first time, DeFi is actually ready for mainstream users. In fact, Kraken just launched new DeFi Earn vaults powered by Veda, giving millions of users instant access to onchain yields without leaving the Kraken app.

In this episode, we cover:
+ DeFi's enormous future in enterprise partnerships and distribution
+ How Veda vaults work: custody, risk management, and yield strategies
+ Breaking down Kraken's new DeFi Earn vaults
+ Veda's business model and path to profitability

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💎 THIS EPISODE'S PARTNERS

♉︎ TOROS | Exponential gains with leveraged tokens

🌅 NEUTRL | The next generation of crypto-native yield

🛡️ ACCOUNTABLE | Real-time financial verification

🕛 NOON | The highest and safest stablecoin yield, built for the long term

⚔️ KATANA | Deep liquidity & real yield

🔊 DECIBEL | The new sound of trading

🥞 SYRUPUSDC BY MAPLE | DeFi's premium yield asset

🏦 MANTLE | Innovating the future of onchain finance

🐡 PUFFER INSTITUTIONAL | ETH staking solutions for scale

⚙️ GEARBOX PROTOCOL | Onchain lending reimagined

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro
1:52 - DeFi’s identity crisis, record adoption vs sentiment
5:35 - The value capture question, DeFi protocols or institutions?
6:47 - Will businesses build or partner?
12:15 - Enterprise DeFi predictions for 2026
15:05 - What are vaults and why does DeFi need them?
17:35 - Not all vaults are created equally
21:36 - Veda's evolution from ether.fi to enterprise vaults
27:16 - Breaking down Kraken DeFi Earn, powered by Veda
29:33 - Kraken DeFi Earn vault details
38:21 - Human vs. AI curation for DeFi vaults
40:36 - Integrating AI into Veda's vault system
42:22 - What institutions need from Veda
43:52 - Veda’s business model and path to profitability
47:24 - Veda’s partners: ether.fi, Plasma, Mantle, and more
49:29 - Will there be a VEDA token?
50:02 - Closing

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🔗 GUEST LINKS

► Veda website: https://veda.tech/
► Veda on X: https://x.com/veda_labs
► Sun Raghupathi on X: https://x.com/sunandr_

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DISCLAIMER: Nothing said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed by hosts or guests on the show are solely their opinions. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this podcast. DeFi Dad invested in the seed round for Veda.