DEFI Doesn't Exist Anymore' as Onchain Finance Takes Over

Cronje: Most Protocols Have Left True DeFi Behind

Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech), founder of Flying Tulip (@flyingtulip_) and creator of the Fantom Network, says the decentralized finance sector has drifted so far from its origins that the label no longer applies to most of what it describes.

Cronje, who also founded Yearn Finance and the Keep3r Network, told Cointelegraph during the Chain Reaction X Spaces show that most DeFi protocols are no longer truly decentralized. "I don't think DeFi exists anymore outside of those very small niches," he said.

In his view, genuine decentralized finance requires three conditions: real decentralization, immutability, and the absence of intermediaries. He argued that many protocols are no longer immutable public goods, but rather "teams running for-profit businesses" with upgradeable contracts, offchain infrastructure and operational controls.

Cronje had already raised the issue in early 2026, pointing out that much of the ecosystem had abandoned its foundational principles amid a developer debate over emergency mechanisms such as circuit breakers. For Cronje, that debate is itself evidence of the problem: incorporating risk committees, curators, and decision-makers reproduces the logic of traditional banking under a decentralized interface.

Cronje frames the shift as a move toward "onchain finance or open finance" rather than the original DeFi model. He stopped short of declaring true DeFi dead, however, noting that he still sees genuine innovation among some protocols.

TVL Decline Adds Weight to the Argument

Total value locked in DeFi more than halved over the past ten months, falling to around $75 billion from $167 billion in early October 2025, according to DefiLlama. The contraction spans the broader ecosystem. The weakness extends across lending, liquid staking, and bridge protocols, suggesting participation is shrinking across multiple sectors rather than within a single one.

Curve Finance and Yield Basis founder Michael Egorov shared a similar view, telling Cointelegraph that recent exploits stemmed not from errors in code but from "centralization risks, single points of failure which live off-chain."

Developers and other industry participants continue to debate the trade-offs between using human-operated controls to reduce risk and preserving decentralized, trustless governance. Some argue timelocks, multisignature emergency keys and other mechanisms are needed to protect users, while others argue those same mechanisms concentrate decision-making.

Cronje's intervention reflects a wider sector shift, moving the conversation from whether DeFi is dead to how it should be structured if decentralization is treated as a measurable standard. When TVL declines and governance concentration becomes a regulatory talking point, protocol designers face increasing pressure to demonstrate that decision-making is genuinely distributed.

Sources:Cointelegraph: 'DeFi Doesn't Exist Anymore' Just Onchain Finance: Andre CronjeCointelegraph: DeFi Exploits Push Builders to Rethink Emergency Controls