DeFi and Cross-Chain Liquidity | Octant DeFi Summit 2025

Описание: Speakers:
• Evan Mann (Moderator) is the Co-founder of RiseUp Media.

• Andrei Duma is the Head of DeFi at LI.FI, where he drives sales and partnerships for the top multi-chain DeFi routing API.

• Sandeep Nailwal is the Founder of Polygon and CEO of the Polygon Foundation. A blockchain pioneer since 2013, he launched Polygon (originally Matic) in 2017 to help scale Ethereum.

• Arjun Arora is the Head of Crypto at LayerZero Labs, where he focuses on DeFi, stablecoins, custodians, and exchanges. He was previously on the founding team at Orderly Network, building omnichain liquidity infrastructure.

// TIMESTAMPS //
00:00 - Welcome & Introduction to the Panel
01:24 - Sandeep Nailwal on Building Polygon & Scaling Ethereum
02:22 - Andrei Duma on Solving Cross-Chain Liquidity at LI.FI
03:09 - Arjun Arora on His Background at Orderly and Joining LayerZero
03:31 - The Core Topic: How Far Have We Come with Cross-Chain Liquidity?
04:10 - Sandeep: The State of Cross-Chain Routes (LayerZero, Wormhole)
06:24 - The Dream: Making Blockchain as Seamless as the Internet
08:21 - Arjun: The Acceleration of Value Transfer (LayerZero by the Numbers)
09:57 - The Power of the OFT Standard (USDT0, USDE, PYUSD)
11:43 - Andrei: The Problem is Fragmentation, Not Lack of Liquidity
14:31 - How Does Fragmented Liquidity Hurt the Everyday User?
16:11 - The Trade-Off: Does Unifying Liquidity Increase Risk?
17:42 - Advice for New Protocols: How to Avoid the Fragmentation Problem
18:41 - Arjun: Why Protocols Must Think "Omni-Chain from Day One"
20:45 - Sandeep on Ethereum's Tribalism and the "L1 vs. L2" Narrative Problem
25:21 - Why L2s Should Be Seen as "Execution Layers," Not Second-Class Citizens
27:26 - The "Cities and Countries" Analogy for a Multi-Chain World
29:25 - What Keeps You Up at Night? Predictions for the Future
31:01 - Sandeep's Fear: Infrastructure Becoming a Commoditized Background Player
34:01 - Andrei's Bold Prediction: "Cross-Chain" Will Disappear, It Will Just Be a "Swap"
35:20 - Final Thanks & Closing Remarks

Why, after years of innovation, does moving assets between blockchains still feel so clunky? This panel of experts from Polygon, LayerZero, and LI.FI tackles the persistent puzzle of fragmented liquidity. The conversation explores the massive progress made in cross-chain infrastructure, from messaging protocols to advanced routers, and why the user experience still has a long way to go to feel as seamless as the traditional internet.

The panelists discuss the future of interoperability, debating whether a single settlement layer will win or if a multi-chain world connected by aggregators is the inevitable outcome. They break down the difference between tech-only solutions and market-based solutions, the importance of the OFT standard, and why thinking "omni-chain from day one" is a tactical advantage for any new DeFi protocol. This is a crucial discussion on the infrastructure being built today to unify liquidity and onboard the next billion users to DeFi.

This panel was part of the Octant DeFi Summit 2025, a one-day event that brought together the brightest minds in the industry to discuss the future of decentralized finance.

About Octant:
Octant is infra for sustainable growth, powered by DeFi and aligned with Ethereum. To date, Octant funding rounds have sustainably funded hundreds of projects (over $7 million USD in grant funding) over 8 epochs, all through staking rewards.

Follow the Speakers:
• Evan Mann, Co-founder of RiseUp Media: https://x.com/Evan_Mann
• Andrei Duma, Head of DeFi at LI.FI: https://x.com/0xCerberus
• Sandeep Nailwal, Founder of Polygon: https://x.com/sandeepnailwal
• Arjun Arora, Head of Crypto at LayerZero Labs: https://x.com/0x_Arjun

Follow the Organizations:
• Octant: https://x.com/OctantApp
• Polygon: https://x.com/0xPolygon
• LayerZero Labs: https://x.com/LayerZero_Core
• LI.FI: https://x.com/lifiprotocol
• The Rise Up Morning Show: https://x.com/rumshq

Keywords:
Cross-Chain, Multi-Chain, Interoperability, Liquidity, Fragmented Liquidity, DeFi, LayerZero, Polygon, LI.FI, OFT Standard, AggLayer, UX, Capital Efficiency, Ethereum, L2