Writing Process
This article is written via the following process:
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Reimagining DeFi as a Public Movement
There is a growing desire to create a movement around decentralization and decentralized finance (DeFi), particularly by using platforms like Jupiter as an accessible and user-friendly entry point into the space. Despite the massive opportunities that DeFi presents, public awareness and understanding remain minimal — especially among those deeply entrenched in traditional finance (TradFi). The key is not just to evangelize DeFi for its own sake, but to genuinely offer value to individuals who are curious, underserved, or underserved by current financial systems.
With my mix of skills — macroeconomic insight, technical analysis, and direct experience in both TradFi and DeFi products — I see an opportunity to push this movement. Backed by personal capital, research skills, and a growing global network through regional initiatives via Jupiter, the goal is to start with something tangible.
But this kind of movement isn’t something to build alone. It requires allies — collaborators who believe in the mission. More than just technical knowledge, it’s about shared vision and stamina to push through.
Designing a Practical Onboarding Experience
The plan starts with something tangible: educational sessions. What exactly will people learn? If you’re a TradFi investor in Singapore, what’s the easiest and most trustworthy way to dip your toes into DeFi?
The idea is to design sessions with a low barrier to entry — charging a nominal fee (e.g., $20), part of which could be funneled into the participant’s first DeFi balance. The goal is to make onboarding not only easy but meaningful, giving participants both hands-on experience and foundational knowledge.
There should be a structured curriculum covering:
- The basics of DeFi products
- Risks and how to manage them
- The logic of smart contracts and protocol design
- Use cases with real-world parallels
- How to build and manage a portfolio
- Core security practices like seed phrase management
This approach would help demystify DeFi and frame it as something not only accessible but worthwhile.
Building for Patient Capital and Sustainable Growth
The long-term sustainability of DeFi depends on attracting patient capital — people who are willing to let their money sit and accrue value over time. Much like Bitcoin’s early success, these investors understand the importance of staying power through volatility. When capital is patient, it allows assets to evolve into meaningful stores of value.
A recent example here is Fartcoin — a token with a humorous and highly relatable branding hook, simple transactivity, and strong meme value. Over time, as more holders join and demonstrate conviction, it could evolve into a legitimate store of value. This is the same arc we’ve seen play out in early-stage crypto assets: humor and memes hook attention, but staying power converts novelty into financial gravity.
DeFi Use Cases That Actually Matter
A sustainable DeFi ecosystem must focus on real, net-positive use cases. Some of the most promising include:
1. Store of Value
An asset that retains value over time, is easy to transfer, and is uncensorable, offers a powerful use case for people living under unstable monetary regimes or inflationary pressures.
2. Community-Based Currency
@meow has written extensively on this topic and has a pioneering article in the works.
Money created and backed by belief, shared values, or collective identity can serve as a social layer on top of economic systems. However, belief-based money must eventually be underpinned by real usage; otherwise, its shelf life is short.
Still, belief can be a powerful bootstrap mechanism. When a critical mass forms, people naturally start exchanging value with each other, giving the token genuine utility as a medium of exchange.
3. Launchpads and Fundraising
Platforms like the upcoming Jupiter Catpad, which function as launchpads for projects, are prime examples of DeFi’s ability to democratize capital raising. They allow startups — especially in underserved regions or unbanked populations — to raise funds and onboard users simultaneously.
Yes, the risks are non-trivial. Lack of KYC and verification introduces massive uncertainty. But these same properties enable innovation where legacy systems are too slow or too restrictive.
Risk Layers and the DeFi Totem Pole
There is an unspoken hierarchy in DeFi. At the top: high-risk, high-reward speculation — meme tokens, rug pulls, degen farming. Below that, a scaffolding of lower-risk mechanisms: lending markets, liquidity pools, fee generation from DEXes.
Even if a user chooses not to engage in high-risk activity, they can still benefit from the value it generates downstream. For instance, YOLO trades create trading volume, which feeds revenue into liquidity providers and protocol treasuries. That value “trickles down” into safer, more structured products.
The critical problem is perception: newcomers assume DeFi is uniformly risky. They don’t see the layered structure or understand where value originates. This is where structured education can change everything.
The Urgent Need for DeFi Translation
At its core, this mission is about translation — bridging two mental models:
- The traditional investor’s mindset: compliance-first, risk-managed, utility-driven
- The DeFi-native ethos: permissionless, volatile, innovative, community-powered
By speaking both languages, there’s an opportunity to build a bridge between these worlds. I sees myself as uniquely positioned to play this role. The traditional world understands IRR, FX risk, and portfolio construction. The DeFi world speaks in TVL, APYs, and memetic virality.
To unite the two, we need cultural and intellectual translation. And that’s where this vision begins.
What Comes Next?
The lingering question is: how to begin? This remains an open thread. Starting a movement isn’t just about having the right idea — it’s about assembling the right people, finding the right venue, and crafting the right narrative.
What’s clear is the intention: to catalyze a real, sustainable movement for DeFi adoption — grounded in education, tempered by risk-awareness, and fueled by belief in a better system.
The tools are ready. The knowledge is in hand. The next step is the leap.
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