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Securitize and Ethena have announced converge, an EVM blockchain aimed at supporting and promoting both Defi and tokenized assets.
Here is my TLDR: Converge wants to build products and apps with partners who are equipped with institutional investors, giving them access to Defi. Securitize will publish both future and existing tokenized assets on the blockchain.
Partners are Maple, Morpho, Pendle, the horizon of Aave Labs, and then you have the Guardian Support Support of copper, fire blocks and Komainu.
The two are planning to launch the convergation for the next three months, CEO Carlos Domingo told me, and they will make updates to the launch every two weeks. The test network is not yet live, but the two have built some prototypes, he added.
So no time is wasted – probably for the best point behind the institutional adoption at this stage.
I asked Domingo when the two started working on the vision for Converge and he told me that the Ethena team came to securitize during the period in which the $ 100 million collected for his own chain.
“They actually approached us to see if we want to be part of it, because they felt very strong that the power of this will not only be that institutional Defi … but that we can bring our RWAs,” Domingo explained.
Ethena’s Guy Young said the blockchain fills a “clear gap in the market” as the settlement layer.
But the announcement was not without some criticism – which would not be a surprise in Crypto.
When I brought up David Hoffman’s criticism, Domingo clarified that Converge is not a private blockchain, and therefore it is also the reason why the two not only want to build a database.
However, if it was a private blockchain, Domingo said that a database would be complete.
“Look, the world is Multichain. There will be many chains. They will all be connected.“ I don’t think we can trust one chain … Ethereum is great, and we support Ethereum and our greatest assets are on [there]. But at the same time it has many problems in the field of flexibility. “
“You have to introduce new functions there, as we know, extremely slow.
Not to mention, keeping institutions of exposure. Domingo said they are planning to continue to support other chains.
At the end of the day, Domingo noted, Defi “got stuck.” He argued that it has not really grown since Defi Summer in 2021, and it acts as a potential barrier for a full bull market (one of the few if you ask me).
“There is clearly a problem with Defi growth unless there is institutional acceptance,” Domingo believes.
It is difficult to judge a press release, so this is a scenario in which I will have to wait and see how it is going on.
If Converge can take down the Defi barrier – and there is a real institutional adoption that takes place – then I agree: it seems pretty bullish.
