ARK Invest's director of research, Lorenzo Valente, has publicly disagreed with a16z crypto's assertion that traditional finance (TradFi) is more likely to adopt permissioned blockchain infrastructure rather than decentralized finance (DeFi).
In a social media post, Valente argued that public blockchains have already demonstrated superior performance compared to private blockchain initiatives. He highlighted the growth of tokenized assets on networks like Ethereum as evidence of this trend. Valente further suggested that crypto-native companies, such as Circle and Coinbase, are better positioned to lead the development of future financial infrastructure than established financial institutions.
This stance contrasts with a16z crypto's recent argument that traditional financial players are not embracing DeFi but are instead selectively integrating blockchain technology that fits their existing compliance, governance, and operational frameworks. The venture capital firm posited that banks and asset managers would develop "programmable financial infrastructure" by leveraging blockchain primitives like tokenization and atomic settlement within a permissioned, institutionally controlled environment.
Sentora co-founder Jesus Rodriguez also weighed in, suggesting that institutions are likely to adopt the underlying infrastructure of DeFi while building their own layers for compliance, custody, and other enterprise-specific controls.