[Recap] Why DeFi Infrastructure Must Work for Everyone

On September 5th, Ben Jochem, Senior Research Analyst at The Tie, sat down with Gregg Bell, Chief Business Officer at the Hedera Foundation, to discuss “Why DeFi Infrastructure Must Work for Everyone.” The conversation explored how Hedera is building DeFi infrastructure that is fair, predictable, and accessible to both retail and institutional users—restoring the original ethos of financial democratization.

Bell began the conversation by highlighting that Hedera has moved past the experimental stage and is gaining traction with both individual and institutional investors. Listings of HBAR on major platforms such as Robinhood and Kraken, along with growing custodial support, signal a shift toward mainstream adoption. Trading volumes have surged, with multiple multi-billion dollar days placing HBAR among the most liquid assets on top exchanges.

Growth is also visible outside institutional markets. The Hedera native NFT project Dead Pixel Ghost Club recently out-traded Pudgy Penguins and CryptoPunks for several days, outperforming entire ecosystems like Solana and Base. Other collections on Hedera such as Twigital and Age Barbarian, which lean into AI and 3D rendering, are helping to draw more users into Hedera’s broader ecosystem. Bell stressed that innovation in both traditional and creative use cases is what drives adoption across the industry.

The biggest challenge for retail investors remains access to stablecoins. Expanding stablecoin availability lowers entry barriers for commerce and investment. New launches such as AUDD from Australia’s Project Acacia, the Wyoming state stablecoin, and growing issuance of USDC on Hedera (up more than 120% in August) are key steps toward this goal.

For institutions, the main hurdle has been custody. As regulation clears the path for engagement, reliable custodial solutions are essential to overcoming concerns about asset safety. Bell pointed to DFNS, one of Europe’s largest custodians, enabling Hedera support as an example of progress in addressing institutional access points.

Some critics argue DeFi has strayed from its roots of accessibility and democratization. Bell countered that Hedera is helping to bring those values back by lowering geographic barriers and opening investment opportunities through tokenization. He highlighted tokenized commercial real estate from Red Swan, tokenized money market funds with Archax for Fidelity, BlackRock, and Aberdeen, and public equities tokenized on Hedera through Swarm.

At the same time, traditional markets are gaining easier access to crypto through instruments like HBAR ETFs filed on NASDAQ, ETPs in Europe, and corporate balance sheet adoption. This two-way flow creates broad accessibility for both retail and institutional investors.

A central theme of the discussion was Hedera’s predictable fee model. Unlike Ethereum or Solana, where congestion leads to unpredictable and sometimes extreme gas costs, Hedera’s fees are fixed in dollar terms. This transparency benefits retail users and allows institutions to budget for network usage with confidence.

Because fees remain low and stable, Hedera enables market structures that are impractical elsewhere. For example, borrow-lend protocols like Bonzo Finance can process micro-liquidations that would be uneconomic on chains with high gas costs. The result is healthier lending markets and more attractive yields, with USDC borrowing rates on Hedera currently outperforming Aave.

Hedera’s unique consensus model prevents front-running and eliminates MEV, problems that plague Ethereum and degrade the user experience. Transactions are processed in a sequential and fair order, creating a level playing field for all participants and ensuring compliance with global securities standards where front-running is illegal.

The network also offers deterministic finality in under three seconds. For institutions, this reduces counterparty risk and frees up capital tied to pending transactions. For individuals, it enables immediate redeployment of assets after a trade. Bell emphasized that faster, guaranteed settlement underpins both advanced institutional strategies and smoother everyday user experiences.

Projects building on Hedera highlight its focus on inclusivity and security. Swarm, for example, tokenized public equities in a DeFi-enabled, insolvency-protected structure, ensuring that assets remain safe even if the issuer disappears, an important feature in the wake of high-profile failures like FTX.

Looking ahead, Hedera will implement its first fee increase since 2019, raising consensus submit message fees from $0.00001 to $0.00008 in January 2026, still a fraction of a cent. This change reflects actual network costs while maintaining accessibility. Bell also pointed to Hedera’s post-quantum readiness as a long-term differentiator, ensuring security against future advances in computing.

Finally, Hedera is actively contributing to tokenization standards such as ERC-3643 and ERC-1400, reinforcing interoperability across the broader EVM ecosystem. By joining industry efforts around shared standards, Hedera positions itself as a scalable home for all types of tokenized assets.

The conversation underscored that DeFi infrastructure must be fair, predictable, and open to all participants. Hedera’s approach of low and stable fees, fair transaction ordering, instant finality, and compliance-ready tokenization creates an environment where both retail and institutional users can participate with confidence.

As adoption accelerates, the Hedera Foundation is supporting stablecoin growth, expanding institutional custody, and fostering ecosystem projects that prioritize inclusivity. By bridging traditional finance and Web3, Hedera is working to ensure that DeFi fulfills its original promise of democratizing access to financial markets.