Vaults Lag Behind Stablecoins, Founder Predicts Wholesale Capital Shift

Adrian Cachinero Vasiljević, founder of Steakhouse, described vaults as credit software that can be embedded wherever there's credit creation. He believes that stablecoin adoption is the leading indicator for vault adoption, and that vaults lag behind in terms of growth.

Vaults used to be a crypto-native product, but Cachinero Vasiljević notes that user bases haven't changed much yet, with most users still being retail. However, he expects a shift towards wholesale capital management in the next five years, with institutional balance sheets using vault infrastructure to mediate credit.

Cachinero Vasiljević sees Tether as an interesting case, noting that it has little incentive to comply with regulations such as GENIUS or MiCA, and that its user base is not where its future growth sits. He believes that USDT holders will eventually mature to the point of wanting to earn something on their idle balances, which is where vaults play a role.