Panel discussion on institutional adoption of DeFi featuring leaders from Block Daemon, Zodiac Custody, Braille, and Stellar Development Foundation. Panelists discuss security standards, regulatory frameworks, staking infrastructure, and the coexistence of public and permissioned blockchains in institutional finance.
A panel of institutional infrastructure providers and blockchain leaders explored how traditional financial institutions are entering DeFi. Key topics included security certifications and compliance standards (SOC 2, ISO), regulatory clarity around stablecoins and digital assets, the role of custodians in enabling institutional participation, and the importance of open-source tooling for developer adoption. Panelists emphasized that institutions increasingly ask sophisticated questions about validator operations, MEV practices, and chain security rather than basic DeFi concepts. The discussion covered staking demand, tokenization of real-world assets, bridging solutions for multi-chain participation, and the expectation that both public and permissioned blockchains will coexist long-term. Stellar's open-source approach and permissionless design were highlighted as enabling institutional innovation.