The Unseen Systems That Will Determine the Future of Digital Finance The next era of digital finance depends on who's building it.

Before billions of people streamed videos on their phones or ran businesses from their pockets, the groundwork was quietly being laid. Satellites were going into orbit. Fiber-optic cables were being buried beneath cities. 5G towers were rising across skylines. That hidden infrastructure is what made the mobile internet possible.

I've seen this playbook before. The Ergen family spent decades helping to expand the physical backbone of global connectivity, long before most people realized the importance of that infrastructure. Today, I see the same story playing out again, this time in the naturally evolving world of decentralized finance (DeFi). The biggest breakthroughs always begin with what people don't see. In telecom, it was towers and satellites. In DeFi, it's infrastructure, regulation and access.

As DeFi moves beyond speculation toward real-world utility, the opportunity isn't just in the applications. It's in the infrastructure, including custody rails, compliance frameworks and cross-border systems; in a nutshell, the entire ecosystem that will function securely, globally and at scale.

Related: Mark Cuban Says Explosive Growth in DeFi Is 'Like the Early Days of the Internet'

From telecom to tokenization: A familiar blueprint

One thing my background in telecom taught me is that lasting change depends on what happens behind the scenes. The systems that enable mass adoption, whether in communications or finance, have to be in place before the public ever sees the benefits.

That's exactly the mindset I'm bringing to the growth of DeFi technologies. While much of the attention in Web3 still chases market cycles and hype, the real work is happening at the infrastructure level, building the tools that make decentralized applications usable, compliant and scalable.

The real momentum is behind building systems that institutions can rely on, including regulated custody, cross-border trading infrastructure and the legal and technical frameworks necessary to move tokenized assets — such as digital treasuries and credit products — securely across jurisdictions.

It's the side of the ecosystem that makes everything else possible. Just like in telecom, those who prioritize regulation, reliability and accessibility will be the ones who build the future, and that's the lane long-term players intend to stay on.

The future of finance cannot be just hype

The projected growth of DeFi, from just over $20 billion today to more than $230 billion by 2030, tells us how early we still are. However, I've learned that growth alone doesn't guarantee maturity. Without infrastructure, scale breaks down. Without trust, adoption stalls.

It's trust that drives systems forward, and trust comes from infrastructure, including regulatory clarity, security and seamless access for users.

That's why entrepreneurs today spend a lot of time not just thinking about what can be built, but where and how it can be built. Experience shows that working with policymakers, rather than around them, can accelerate the adoption of new ideas, and this principle applies equally to decentralized finance. Jurisdictions like the UAE, Singapore, and, of course, the U.S., where regulatory frameworks are clear and forward-looking, are now leading the way in digital asset innovation for this reason.

But regulation is only one piece. There's also a last-mile problem that we as an industry need to solve. It's not enough to build robust systems; they have to be intuitive. That means better user interfaces, frictionless fiat onramps and tools that work without requiring deep technical knowledge. The best infrastructure fades into the background. No one thinks about how their phone connects to a tower. It just works. That's the standard we should be aiming for in financial systems, too.

Related: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Afford to Ignore DeFi

The emergence of stablecoins

One of the most evident signs that DeFi is entering a phase of real-world utility is the emergence of stablecoins, which, unlike volatile crypto assets, are designed to maintain a consistent value, typically tied to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar. This stability positions them as a practical entry point for both institutions and individuals, facilitating cross-border transactions, real-time settlement and access to yield-generating opportunities without the usual barriers of traditional banking.

Stablecoins are emerging as the connective tissue between the decentralized and traditional financial systems. They're being used for payroll, remittances, on-chain treasuries and even in central bank conversations about digital currencies. As regulatory clarity increases and infrastructure matures, stablecoins will likely be the backbone of a new, programmable financial layer that's global in reach, secure by design and open by default.

As interest in Web3 returns, particularly with moves like Circle's IPO and blockbuster ETF inflows being registered on a daily basis, we must maintain our focus on what matters: not chasing the hype but laying the foundations. Every technology wave reaches a point where infrastructure becomes the priority. This is that moment for DeFi.