Podcast: Aave founder explains how $1 trillion will flow into DeFi | Stani Kulechov & Santiago Santos

Stani Kulechov & Santiago Santos discuss the massive and continuous growth of DeFi as they talk NFTs, decentralised social media, and more.

article-image
share

In the latest episode of Blockworks’ podcast “Empire,” Jason is joined by Aave founder/CEO Stani Kulechov & technology investor Santiago R Santos.

Sitting at the forefront of the fast evolving DeFi ecosystem, we invited Stani & Santiago on to Empire to share their thoughts on the exponential growth and assess whether DeFi has hit escape velocity.

This conversation was fascinating and covered a range of topics including how DeFi managed to attract $100 Billion of total value during the 2020 DeFi summer, when $1 trillion of value will be locked in DeFi, how social media could be decentralised in the web 3.0 transition, NFT’s, and Stani & Santiago’s outlook for the end of year bull market.

They also discuss:

  • Tokenizing real world assets
  • Collateralized vs Undercollateralized loans
  • and so much more!

Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇

On “Empire,” once a week, Jason interviews individuals that have built the crypto industry to talk about their struggles, bold moves and tough decisions. For any NPR or Guy Raz fans out there, you can think of “Empire” like a “How I Built This” for the bitcoin and crypto industry.

Episodes are released every Thursday morning. 

Subscribe to Empire today on Apple or Spotify. Watch episodes on YouTube.


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

monad ecosystem report graphic.png

Research

Monad's testnet launch has shown promise with 57 geographically distributed validators and over 20 live applications on day one. However, the ecosystem's true test will come with mainnet as it transitions from testing to real economic activity alongside the launch of the native gas token.

article-image

Supply Shock host Pete Rizzo spoke with Satoshi Action Fund president Dennis Porter

article-image

Moonrock Capital’s Simon Dedic thinks that we have to treat infra and consumer apps like the internet: build them side by side

article-image

Seismic, an encrypted blockchain, plans to release its developer testnet in a month

article-image

On the news that SOL would be part of Trump’s upcoming strategic reserve, SOL quickly surged before seeing an equally swift retracement

article-image

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the IRS rule “puts at risk the privacy and security” of millions of Americans trading digital assets

article-image

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly said a bitcoin strategic reserve could be “executed on Friday”