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Feb 18
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AVOID
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Stani Kulechov
Founder of Aave Labs
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"Aave is lending stablecoins at 5%... and a lot of decentralized competitors are lending between 7 to 12%... centralized lending basically collapse[d]." DeFi has proven a superior cost structure (lower rates for borrowers) and superior risk management (automated, transparent liquidations vs. opaque centralized balance sheets). Traditional finance and centralized crypto lenders suffer from higher overhead and human error/fraud risk, making them structurally uncompetitive against optimized smart contracts like Aave V4. AVOID (Technological obsolescence). Regulatory crackdowns on DeFi could force users back to traditional/centralized venues despite the higher costs. |
Unchained (Chopping Block)
Why Aave Labs Is Putting Itself at the Mercy ...
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Feb 18
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LONG
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Brian Armstrong
CEO of Coinbase
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"The smartest financial service institutions out there and banks are leaning into this... They're all hiring for crypto and blockchain product managers." Large banks are not ignoring crypto; they are building the backend to capture the asset class. Banks that successfully integrate with providers (like Coinbase) will retain deposits that might otherwise flee to DeFi, while gaining new fee streams. Long forward-thinking major banks integrating blockchain rails. Regulatory crackdown preventing banks from holding crypto on balance sheets (SAB 121 issues). |
CNBC
Watch CNBC's full interview with Coinbase CEO...
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Feb 17
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AVOID
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Todd Alt
CEO/Founder, Alt Blockchain
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"US Bank debanked all my companies, they debanked and took my wife's Girl Scout cookie away... a random person can decide that you get to pass or not pass." The speaker illustrates a "hostile user experience" within the legacy banking sector. This friction forces capital and high-growth tech companies to build parallel financial systems, eroding the long-term deposit base and relevance of legacy banks for the digital economy. AVOID. The sector faces disruption from the very clients they are excluding. Banks may eventually pivot to embrace crypto rails, recapturing this market share. |
CoinDesk
The Uncensorable Layer 1 Built from Being De-...
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