Will Wall Street's Crypto Entry Spoil the Party?

The cryptocurrency community is abuzz with the news that financial giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and others are entering the decentralized crypto industry. While this may seem like a promising development, some are worried that these institutions will undermine the very idea of decentralizing finance. But is this fear justified? Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is an integral part of the crypto world that aims to create an open, borderless, and decentralized financial system that operates without relying on traditional finance or centralized intermediaries. The purpose of DeFi is to limit the power of centralized institutions in determining who has access to financial services and to help billions of unbanked populations around the world. However, financial institutions have jumped into the crypto space, with BlackRock's iShares group launching the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) earlier this year, holding more than $18 billion in assets. In the near future, the financial giant plans to launch an Ether ETF. But will this centralization spoil the party? Noelle Acheson, crypto expert and author of the “Crypto is Macro Now” newsletter, believes that the blockchain ecosystem growth will continue whether or not large institutions are involved. She notes that BlackRock and Fidelity don't control the development of decentralized services; rather, they complement it. But Peko Wan, co-CEO of blockchain platform Pundi X, is concerned about a different matter. In her view, decentralizing finance does not necessarily mean decentralizing ownership. She notes that large organizations like BlackRock and MicroStrategy hold significant amounts of Bitcoin, which could potentially centralize control. The question remains: what's the future of money? The evolving financial model is now a mixture of centralization and decentralization instead of exclusively one or the other. While DeFi has brought about some groundbreaking changes, it has also experienced several setbacks. To rebuild confidence in the system, the hybrid model is gaining popularity. Nevertheless, it's crucial to consider the original purpose of decentralized finance and whether it is truly addressing the needs of the unbanked population.