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Crypto market maker and Web3 investment firm DWF Labs says it is investing up to $75 million in decentralized finance projects that could support institutional adoption.&nbsp;
The firm shared its announcement via X on Wednesday, saying the fund will support projects with “innovative value” propositions that can scale to support large-scale adoption.&nbsp;&nbsp;
“The initiative will target blockchain projects building dark-pool perpetual DEXs, decentralized money markets, and fixed-income or yield-bearing asset products, [...]&nbsp;areas the firm believes are poised for major growth as crypto liquidity continues its structural migration onchain,” DWF Labs said.
As part of the announcement, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/genius-act-legitimizes-stablecoins-institutional-adoption" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DWF Labs managing partner</a> Andrei Grachev emphasized the importance of building DeFi infrastructure “with real utility” that can <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/defi-lending-rises-72-institutional-rwa-collateral-adoption" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">support institutional demand</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;
“DeFi is entering its institutional phase,” he said, adding: “We’re seeing real demand for infrastructure that can handle size, protect order flow, and generate sustainable yield.”&nbsp;
The fund will focus on projects built across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Solana, as well as Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 Base.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-11/019ac310-9ce5-78bf-83c2-a569d71e7ea5" title="" alt="DWF Labs launches $75M fund for ‘institutional phase’ of DeFi">
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 Source: <a href="https://x.com/DWFLabs/status/1993730583826993319" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://x.com/DWFLabs/status/1993730583826993319">DWF Labs</a> 
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Alongside capital injections, DWF Labs will also offer support in ways such as “TVL and crypto liquidity provisioning, hands-on go-to-market strategy and execution support,” access to partnered exchanges, market makers, infrastructure providers and institutions in crypto.&nbsp;
<h2 id="defi-s-future-potential">DeFi’s future potential&nbsp;</h2>
At the time of writing, there is currently over $120 billion worth of total value locked across all DeFi projects as per DefiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">data</a>.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-venture-arm-shares-9-crypto-innovations-it-seeks-support-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coinbase reveals 9 crypto ideas it wants to bankroll in 2026</a>
It reached its peak back in “DeFi Summer” of 2021, at around $175 billion, and also recently almost climbed back to that high again last month, after circling $166 billion before the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/market-crash-no-long-term-fundamental-implications" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Oct. 10 market crash</a>.
Despite DeFi initially being a niche area designed as a decentralized alternative to traditional finance, some believe that centralized institutions will play a key role in helping the sector go mainstream.&nbsp;
Speaking with MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe in a video published to YouTube on Tuesday,<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/defi-global-adoption-regulation-institutional-funds-chainlink-founder" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Chainlink co-founder</a> Sergey Nazarov said that “I think we’re about 30% of the way there.”&nbsp;
Nazarov predicted DeFi to hit 50% mass adoption when the regulatory climate is clear, and 70% when the infrastructure and technology are simple and efficient enough for institutions to tip their capital and client funds into DeFi.&nbsp;
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/eth-ethereum-treasury-firms-could-spark-defi-summer-2-0-race-for-yields/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">How Ethereum treasury companies could spark ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’</a>

DWF Labs launches $75M fund for ‘institutional phase’ of DeFi

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Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Nov 27, 2025

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