Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), is advocating for a shift in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space: moving away from speculative, high-risk yield-farming and memecoins toward more sustainable, low-risk protocols. He argues that such applications can replicate what traditional banks provide — payments, savings, collateralised lending — but in a permissionless, global format.<a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/371527/low-risk-defi-not-memecoins-can-best-sustain-ethereums-economy-co-founder-vitalik-buterin-says/?utm_source=chatgpt.com"> </a>
<h2>Why This Shift Matters to Ethereum</h2>
Buterin likens the approach to how Google LLC uses its ad-revenue engine to support other experimental ventures. Similarly, he believes that low-risk <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/paving-the-future-defis-evolution-and-the-rise-of-layer-2-networks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeFi applications</a> can provide the economic foundation for Ethereum’s ecosystem — enabling more ambitious, non-financial, or community-centric projects to thrive without relying on speculative gains.
He states that DeFi’s maturation — with improved security, fewer spectacular hacks and evolving regulation — means the tail-risks of traditional finance (TradFi) may now outweigh those in well-designed DeFi systems.
<h2>From Vision to Broad Financial Inclusion</h2>
In his outlook, Buterin projects that DeFi can eventually allow users and institutions around the world to use these protocols as primary banking alternatives: “DeFi as a form of savings is finally viable.”
He acknowledges the work remaining — ensuring accessibility, security, and aligning with Ethereum’s ethos of decentralisation and innovation — but the message is clear: by anchoring on robust, understandable financial primitives, the crypto ecosystem can transcend speculation and become a global financial infrastructure.

Buterin Sees DeFi as Future Back-Bone of Global Finance

Ethereum co-founder urges focus on low-risk DeFi to rival traditional banking by delivering payments, savings and lending at scale.

Buterin Sees DeFi as Future Back-Bone of Global Finance

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