Onchain Finance Emerges as Rival to Traditional Wall Street

Onchain finance is positioning itself as a distinct category from decentralized finance (DeFi), aimed at competing with traditional Wall Street practices. According to Jake Chervinsky and Rebecca Rettig, this approach reintroduces selective trust into financial products, in contrast to pure DeFi models that eliminate intermediaries entirely.

This strategic shift is focused on delivering superior products for institutional adoption on Wall Street. A September 21, 2026 tweet highlights how onchain finance vs DeFi dynamics and Wall Street crypto integration could reshape decentralized finance competition over the next year.