DeFi's Great Equalizer? 1inch Co-Founder's Vision for Global Inclusion

Picture this dream with us—where access to financial services is not a privilege for the wealthy, but a right that all Americans enjoy. Where your zip code is not your economic destiny. That’s the promise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and it’s a vision I believe in with my whole heart. Sergej Kunz, the co-founder of 1inch, is vigorously pushing that vision forward. Now it’s our turn to get back to addressing why that should be a big deal.

Breaking Down Financial Barriers Worldwide

DeFi is, at its core, an egalitarian movement. Traditional finance walls off these opportunities behind layers of bureaucracy, high transaction costs, and geographic barriers. Think about the unbanked and underbanked. Tens of millions around the world can’t fully take part in the global economy simply because they lack access to a bank account. It's an injustice that fuels inequality.

DEX aggregators, like 1inch Network, are a clear shot across the bow to such a centralized status quo. They provide an entry point into a more self-custodied, transparent, and drastically less transactional fee world. A trading value of $2.03 billion as of February 2025 demonstrates how DEX aggregators are growing in popularity. The difference here is not technology, it’s empowerment.

Take that same hypothetical small Colombian coffee farmer, who can’t sell their beans for a reasonable price. Impact Traditional export routes are filled with middlemen who line their pockets along the way. Through DeFi, they would be able to reach the world’s markets directly, eliminating the middlemen and keeping much more of their profits. According to industry projections, the asset tokenization market size could grow as large as $18.9 trillion by 2033. This is the spellbinding promise of DeFi in action.

Atomic Execution Guarantees Fairness

In traditional finance one of the most insidious issues is the hidden fees and predatory practices that are so common. Remember the 2008 financial crisis? It’s built on layers of opaque transactions that do real harm to the lives of everyday people.

1inch emphasizes atomic execution, a powerful concept. It’s called atomicity – a transaction only succeeds if the whole thing executes, or none of it does. This saves you from significant losses due to partial fill orders. It protects you from front-running by bad actors, such as MEV bots, a prevalent problem in DeFi degen forums. It’s like getting a lock on a mortgage but for a much bigger deal. This is the innovation we need to make DeFi more trustworthy.

I know that this commitment to fairness is vital to help instill confidence in the DeFi ecosystem. People need to know that their transactions are secure and transparent, especially when entrusting their hard-earned money to a new system. Now THIS is where the rubber meets the road.

Can TradFi Really Adapt to DeFi?

Sergej Kunz is unrepentant in his assertion that it’s TradFi that will have to conform to the realities of DeFi, and not the reverse. This is not Silicon Valley bravado, this is a true reordering of power and control. These long-standing institutions have been able to set the rules of the game to their benefit, leaving innovators with few options and limited choices.

1inch intends to collaborate with banks and other financial institutions to implement the DeFi technology. This initiative’s focus on self-custody and atomic execution is revolutionary, but it is only a start. This is all about making the benefits of DeFi – transparency, efficiency, accessibility – available to a much broader audience.

Imagine what’s happening there to the early days of the internet. The large traditional news organizations laughed at online journalism—they thought it was all a joke. Now, they’re all running scared trying to make the jump from analog to digital. The same is happening with DeFi. TradFi institutions will have to adapt to stay relevant, or they will be left behind.

Bringing together AML and KYC processes is key to addressing security threats. This is an important step for us as it will allow us to bridge the gap into traditional finance (TradFi) more successfully.

The road ahead won't be easy. Regulatory hurdles, the need for user education, and concerns about security from both users and developers alike all represent major obstacles. The possible benefits – a more inclusive, equitable, and democratic financial system – are too big to pass up.

So now it’s time to get educated, get engaged, and join in the movement to create a world where finance works for all.