Banks Not Looking to Create Own DeFi Alternatives – Investment Banker

Adoption Banking DeFi JPMorgan

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Fredrik Vold

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June 26, 2023

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Despite “massive” opportunities for investment banks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, banks are not necessarily looking to build their own systems or alternatives to existing DeFi protocols, a head of corporate development at JPMorgan claims.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the second day of crypto research firm Messari’s Mainnet event in New York City, Sarah Olsen of JPMorgan’s blockchain arm Onyx, said that finding the “right intersection between private and public infrastructure” will be an important job for the bank going forward. 

This argument would suggest that some private infrastructure will be necessary as major financial institutions tap into the DeFi space.

Olsen went on to explain that an important job for JPMorgan going forward will be to figure out how it should “tap onto public infrastructure,” and still add its own expertise.

“Maybe that’s through KYC [know-your-customer], or maybe that’s trough balance sheet capital, but it’s really not us trying to create our own systems or our own alternatives,” the investment banker said.

She, however, stressed that she is a supporter of open blockchains and publicly accessible protocols.

“I’m a big believer personally in public infrastructure,” Olsen said, arguing that “if you allow anyone to participate, that’s where the best ideas are going to come from.”

The banker further continued her argument by saying that while banks can do many things, they simply can’t compete with “6 billion people who have access to open networks.”

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