Ethereum

Gemini

DeFi

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said revenue from low-risk decentralized finance protocols could give the network economic stability — much like Google Search supports Google — while letting nonfinancial apps uphold Ethereum’s cultural values.
Low-risk DeFi could address “important tensions” in the Ethereum community over whether apps that bring in enough revenue to economically sustain the ecosystem align with the cultural and ethical values that brought people to Ethereum in the first place, Buterin <a href="https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/09/21/low_risk_defi.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> in a blog post on Saturday.
The former has been a combination of nonfungible tokens, memecoins, and speculative trading, while the nonfinancial and semifinancial apps that reflect Ethereum’s cultural values have either struggled to gain widespread adoption or haven’t generated enough fees, he said.
“This disjointness created a lot of dissonance in the community,” Buterin said, before making his case for low-risk DeFi being Ethereum’s main fee generator. One example Buterin highlighted was deposit rates for stablecoin lending on DeFi protocol Aave, which hover around 5% for blue-chips like Tether (<a href="/tether-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDT</a>) and USDC (<a href="/usdc-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDC</a>) and above 10% for higher risk stables.
Similarly, Buterin noted that Google does many “interesting and valuable things” — such as its Chromium family of browsers, Pixel phones, its open-source AI Gemini models, and more — but the revenue they make from those products is a fraction compared to what it makes through search and advertisements.&nbsp;
It comes as the total value locked on Ethereum DeFi recently <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/ethereum" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">surpassed</a> $100 billion for the first time since early 2022. DeFi TVL tanked massively across the ecosystem during the 2022-2023 bear market, and TVL figures have largely trailed the performance of top layer 1 tokens this bull market. 
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-09/01996a72-72d1-7b60-891b-d74808757399" title="" alt="Low-risk DeFi could do for Ethereum what search did for Google, Vitalik says">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://x.com/DjaniWhaleSkul/status/1969551635434164548" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://x.com/DjaniWhaleSkul/status/1969551635434164548">Djani</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-the-biggest-macro-trade-over-the-next-10-15-years-fundstrat" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum is the ‘biggest macro trade’ for next 10-15 years: Fundstrat</a>
However, DeFi has picked up lately amid an increase in regulatory momentum, particularly the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-ceo-says-next-major-crypto-bill-freight-train" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Digital Asset Market Clarity Act,</a> which is tipped to push DeFi adoption even further. A recent survey from the DeFi Education Fund found that <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-lobby-study-40-percent-americans-would-try-defi-with-laws" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">over 40% of Americans are open to DeFi</a> if stronger laws are put in place.
<h2 id="ethereum-has-potential-to-do-much-better-than-google">Ethereum has potential to “do much better” than Google</h2>
Ethereum has the potential to “do much better” than Google due to its decentralization. Unlike Google, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-presents-huge-opportunity-ethereum-eth-dev" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum’s decentralized structure</a> better positions low-risk DeFi to align financial success with ethical outcomes, creating harmony between “doing well” and “being good.”
<blockquote>
 “The revenue generator does not have to be the most revolutionary or exciting application of Ethereum. But it does need to be something that is at least not actively unethical or not embarrassing.”
</blockquote>
Buterin criticized Google’s incentive model, noting that <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/google-crypto-ads-mica-europe-compliance-policy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">advertising revenue</a> pushes the company to hoard user data, conflicting with its original open-source and positive-sum ethos.
<h2 id="vitalik-advocates-for-basket-currencies-flatcoins">Vitalik advocates for basket currencies, flatcoins&nbsp;</h2>
While low-risk DeFi is often about enabling easier access to the US dollar — particularly those in low-income and high-inflation countries — Buterin would like to see other innovations that provide economic support to Ethereum.
Buterin pitched the idea of building cryptoassets that track a basket of currencies and <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/flatcoiners-should-take-a-cue-from-terrausd-s-fate" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">flatcoins </a>that are based directly on <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/what-is-the-consumer-price-index-cpi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">consumer price indices.</a>
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/astrology-could-make-you-better-crypto-trader-heres-why/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Astrology could make you a better crypto trader: It has been foretold</a>

Low-risk DeFi could do for Ethereum what search did for Google, Vitalik says

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Sep 21, 2025

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!