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Investors’ appetites are evolving
The credit market is not known for speed. Today, accessing credit requires lots of filing, paperwork and often a headache or two. But that may change soon as progress in decentralized finance shakes up how things have been done for centuries.
That progress is coming in the form of lending protocols, which promise to unlock liquidity almost instantly using DeFi infrastructure, allowing users to borrow against assets within seconds rather than weeks.
“Anybody who has access to the internet should be able to access this technology we're building,” Jonathan Han, CEO of Euler Finance, a borrowing and lending vault infrastructure firm, said on Token Relations’ Talking Tokens podcast recently.
At Euler, Han is focusing on building what he describes as the foundational credit layer for the internet.
“The largest unlock is to retail because they don't even know they can easily get access to liquidity or stablecoins through their assets,” Han said. “So now using crypto, they can sometimes do it in seconds, instead of filing for months, or [undergoing] credit checks and waiting for a long time to go to the in-person facilities at the branches.”
While DeFi applications open the door for the average retail user to avail credit quickly, they also create opportunity for institutions that have been bogged down by slower infrastructure and toolkits.
“Sometimes [institutions] cannot unwind and get into a position at that speed that they want,” Han noted. “So with crypto and the interoperability that we have, they can do some innovative and fast-moving stuff.”
Some of the fastest growing areas bridging this gap include real-world assets (RWAs) and tokenized access to credit.
One such fund is Apollo Global Management’s private credit fund, Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED), which the asset management firm tokenized in late January 2025. The fund has about $131.33 million in assets under management, with about a 8.77% one-year return, as of February 27. The fund’s NAV has continued to grow steadily since inception, as shown below.
Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED)
Apollo was one of the first large traditional financial institutions to get into DeFi, but other institutional investors continue to explore use cases that are enabled by crypto, spurred by significant market interest.
In mid-February, Euler integrated Securitize’s DS Protocol, which allows for digital securities (DS) tokens to be used as collateral in “curated, risk-isolated lending markets,” on the DeFi lending protocol, the companies said in a press release.
“It's a very compliant digital representation of real financial instruments,” Han explained. “So the holder of the DS token actually represents their real ownerships of the underlying financial assets. This is a more compliant version of some traditional RWAs that we're currently seeing in this space.”
Han thinks DS tokens are going to “grow significantly” this year as a gateway to onboard financial institutions. He says the main concern from large financial institutions is about compliance and security, but DS tokens lower risk at the smart contract level by eliminating intermediary and counterparty errors.
“Now, they can kind of expand beyond their crypto footprint,” he added. ”I think that's what this really unlocks.”
Retail investors’ appetites are evolving, too, as they learn about what they’re investing in and therefore go about doing so thoughtfully.
“They were investing in hundreds of different kinds of assets in their own mega portfolio, whereas the traditional folks just bought some index fund or tech stocks,” Han added.
Now, retail investors are exploring, buying options on gold, and looking into real estate funds.
Going forward, it’ll continue to be a mixed bag for both institutional and retail investors, as not everyone will be into only vanilla stocks or crazy alternative assets. In general, though, Han expects to see a shift.
“More and more people are getting into the exotic stuff,” he said. “Earlier, the barrier was access and education.”
Now, there’s a plethora of crypto and AI tools and infrastructure at people’s fingertips, which has opened the door for professionals and regular investors alike to have more financial freedom.
All in, if the market and infrastructure continues to develop, the onchain lending layer could continue to connect traditional markets, digital assets and investors in ways that were previously not possible.
Check out the next section for more details and the full episode.
The latest Talking Tokens podcast 🎙️
For today’s episode, I interviewed Jonathan Han, CEO of Euler Finance, about building the credit layer of the internet and making DeFi lending accessible to retail and institutional users alike. Jonathan, who previously worked at Bridgewater Associates explains how Euler's lending framework is evolving from a permissionless protocol to one serving both crypto natives and traditional finance partners.
The conversation covers why traditional mortgage applications can take months when crypto lending can happen in seconds, how tokenized funds like Apollo provide diversification against bitcoin volatility in DeFi lending markets, and why Euler integrated Securitize’s digital securities (DS) protocol, which allows for DS tokens to be used as collateral in “curated, risk isolated lending markets.”. Jonathan also discusses the institutional pivot happening across DeFi, why fixed-rate lending and compliance features are key for enterprise partners, common misconceptions about institutional adoption timelines, and how AI agents are beginning to execute trades and deploy portfolios across lending markets. He also shares insights from building Euler to over $4 billion in deposits within a year after the protocol's recovery from a 2023 hack.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Intro
01:19 – From Bridgewater Associates to crypto
04:04 – Becoming Euler CEO after leading partnerships and institutional growth
04:47 – Building the credit layer of the internet: democratizing access to credit
07:26 – Why crypto lending unlocks liquidity in seconds vs months for mortgages
08:12 – Euler's evolution from permissionless DeFi to serving institutions and fintech
10:06 – Making financial tools accessible without requiring a finance degree
14:57 – RWAs as diversification: Apollo funds performing independently of bitcoin volatility
20:06 – How tokenized treasuries and private credit reduce liquidation risk in DeFi
22:45 – Euler launching tokenized stock lending following Nasdaq, Kraken partnership
24:00 – What institutional partners actually ask: fixed-rate products and compliance
26:41 – Biggest misconceptions: crypto moving too fast vs traditional cycles
29:45 – Measuring success by plugging Euler into stablecoin issuers and fintech platforms
35:20 – Retail investors accessing exotic financial tools through education and AI
37:20 – How Jonathan uses AI agents for portfolio deployment and market summaries
This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io.
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Money and people moves
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Please note this content is for informational and educational purposes only. Any views shared should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research. We may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this newsletter.