Why is DeFi Quietly Going Mainstream? An interview with Pascal Tallarida, Founder of Jarvis Network
In the ever-evolving world of DeFi, yield generation has transformed from a passive game of early entry into a sophisticated, risk-aware strategy deployed by professional teams and on-chain funds. In this exclusive conversation, we speak with Pascal Tallarida, founder of Jarvis Network and a DeFi-native fund manager, about the changing landscape of yield, the vision behind Jarvis, and how DeFi is quietly being integrated into traditional finance. If you’re wondering where DeFi is heading next, this interview offers a clear and grounded view from someone who’s actually building it.
Catch Pascal at Sofia this September! Get your tickets to the ETHSofia conference and hackathon here.
Let’s dive in…
How did you see DeFi yield generation changing over the years?
In the early days, especially during what we now call "DeFi Summer" yield generation was extremely simple. You just had to provide liquidity to a pool and wait. It was mostly about being early, finding hidden gems, and letting time do the rest. It was a "set and forget" era, where risk management wasn’t even part of the discussion. But as the space evolved, so did the risks. Hacks and exploits forced users to pay attention to smart contract vulnerabilities, protocol mechanics, and overall risk management.
Today, DeFi has matured into a complex financial system. Yield generation now involves a wide range of strategies: from derivatives and tokenized real-world assets to delta-neutral positions, on-chain leverage, and advanced arbitrage. These strategies aren’t theoretical- they’re actively used by DAOs, funds, and pro users with solid tooling and automation. What’s even more interesting is that many of these strategies are being tokenized - packaged into vaults or structured products, making them accessible to users who don’t need to understand every underlying mechanic. DeFi has grown into a parallel financial universe, offering both simple and sophisticated products.
What was the original idea behind Jarvis?
The goal with Jarvis was to create non-USD stablecoins like the euro, Swiss franc, and Brazilian real, and to build an on-chain Forex protocol where people could exchange these currencies easily and cheaply. Alongside that, we wanted to establish a global fiat on- and off-ramp network to support international remittances between regions like Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and Turkey.
From the start, we saw this as a two-sided system. On one side were liquidity providers looking to earn yield in their local currency, and on the other were users and companies needing fast, low-cost money transfers. That synergy of connecting yield generation with real-world utility, was at the heart of our vision.
What are the next steps for Jarvis?
We’re currently focused on bootstrapping some new and existing products through targeted incentives. That includes things like on-chain Euro accounts, tokenized fixed-income products, leveraged EUR/USD positions, and money markets. Some of these products we’ve developed in-house, others in collaboration with partners.
But beyond that, the bigger picture for us is to fully step into the DeFi yield narrative. We want to create a new category of on-chain funds, both automated and discretionary, that make use of everything I’ve learned over the years managing on-chain capital. I currently manage a DeFi-native fund for a regulated company in Luxembourg, and I’ve spent years building, optimizing, and running strategies using only on-chain tools.
Now it’s time to package that experience and offer it to others. We’ll do this by launching tokenized vaults that provide access to robust, risk-managed strategies. The idea is to make sophisticated DeFi yield generation as accessible and transparent as possible - both for individuals and institutions.
For whom can DeFi deliver value?
DeFi can create value for a wide range of users.
For retail and digital-native users, essentially anyone already in the crypto world, the appeal is straightforward: they want to generate yield on their assets. And as crypto ownership becomes more widespread, this demand will only grow. More people holding crypto means more people looking to put it to work.
For companies, DeFi is already solving real problems, particularly in payments. Whether domestic or cross-border, DeFi allows money to move faster, at a fraction of the cost, and without relying on the traditional banking system. That means 24/7 settlement, no intermediaries, and no banking hours. Beyond payments, companies are starting to use DeFi for treasury management, raising capital, and accessing global liquidity by tokenizing their assets.
Financial advisors are also tapping into DeFi to respond to client demand. Many of their clients now want exposure not just to crypto assets, but also to the yields these assets can generate. Advisors need to understand how to integrate DeFi products into their offering. And this is already happening.
And finally, there’s a massive value proposition for the unbanked or underbanked. Anyone with an internet connection can now access yields from financial instruments like U.S. Treasuries or European bonds — something that was previously unthinkable. For the first time in history, an individual anywhere in the world can tap into financial opportunities that were once exclusive to institutional investors in developed countries. DeFi breaks down those barriers.
Do you see any signs of DeFi mass adoption?
Absolutely! And not just from headlines about BlackRock or Fidelity entering the space. I see it through my day-to-day work.
For instance, I teach at Alyra, a French school focused on blockchain and AI. I built the very first DeFi course in France to receive official certification from the government. That alone was a strong sign of progress. But what really confirmed it for me was the shift in my students. A couple of years ago, most of them were individuals curious about DeFi, eager to learn how to earn yield, how protocols worked. Today, the majority are professionals: asset managers, traders, corporate treasurers, financial advisors. They’re not here out of curiosity. They’re here because they need to integrate DeFi into their work.
I’ve also seen companies like Spik, a French firm that tokenizes bonds, go from an idea to over €200 million in AUM. And their clients? They’re companies putting their treasury to work on-chain. I actually spoke to many of these companies years ago, and back then, they were cautious. Today, they’re fully onboard, and soon they’ll start lending their assets and engaging with DeFi protocols directly.
There are also more and more companies using stablecoins for cross-border payments — Transfero, Circle, and Purpl are just a few examples. These stablecoins act as backend infrastructure, powering payments at scale. The liquidity layer provided by DeFi is becoming indispensable.
Mass adoption doesn’t mean everyone is farming tokens. It means traditional financial services are being rebuilt on decentralized infrastructure - payments, funding, treasury. And with the lessons we’ve learned along the way, I believe we’ll soon see mainstream institutions lending on Aave, borrowing on Maple, and swapping on Uniswap without hesitation.
So yes, mass adoption is happening, but it doesn’t necessarily look like what people imagined: it’s not about everyone farming tokens or holding crypto in a wallet. It’s about traditional services being rebuilt on decentralized infrastructure. Payments, funding, treasury - they’re all being reimagined using DeFi as the backend. And with the resilience that this space has gained, thanks in part to painful lessons from exploits and failures, I’m confident we’ll see mainstream institutions lending on Aave, borrowing on Maple, or using Uniswap and Aerodrome for swaps in the near future.
In the ever-evolving world of DeFi, yield generation has transformed from a passive game of early entry into a sophisticated, risk-aware strategy deployed by professional teams and on-chain funds. In this exclusive conversation, we speak with Pascal Tallarida, founder of Jarvis Network and a DeFi-native fund manager, about the changing landscape of yield, the vision behind Jarvis, and how DeFi is quietly being integrated into traditional finance. If you’re wondering where DeFi is heading next, this interview offers a clear and grounded view from someone who’s actually building it.
Catch Pascal at Sofia this September! Get your tickets to the ETHSofia conference and hackathon here.
Let’s dive in…
How did you see DeFi yield generation changing over the years?
In the early days, especially during what we now call "DeFi Summer" yield generation was extremely simple. You just had to provide liquidity to a pool and wait. It was mostly about being early, finding hidden gems, and letting time do the rest. It was a "set and forget" era, where risk management wasn’t even part of the discussion. But as the space evolved, so did the risks. Hacks and exploits forced users to pay attention to smart contract vulnerabilities, protocol mechanics, and overall risk management.
Today, DeFi has matured into a complex financial system. Yield generation now involves a wide range of strategies: from derivatives and tokenized real-world assets to delta-neutral positions, on-chain leverage, and advanced arbitrage. These strategies aren’t theoretical- they’re actively used by DAOs, funds, and pro users with solid tooling and automation. What’s even more interesting is that many of these strategies are being tokenized - packaged into vaults or structured products, making them accessible to users who don’t need to understand every underlying mechanic. DeFi has grown into a parallel financial universe, offering both simple and sophisticated products.
What was the original idea behind Jarvis?
The goal with Jarvis was to create non-USD stablecoins like the euro, Swiss franc, and Brazilian real, and to build an on-chain Forex protocol where people could exchange these currencies easily and cheaply. Alongside that, we wanted to establish a global fiat on- and off-ramp network to support international remittances between regions like Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and Turkey.
From the start, we saw this as a two-sided system. On one side were liquidity providers looking to earn yield in their local currency, and on the other were users and companies needing fast, low-cost money transfers. That synergy of connecting yield generation with real-world utility, was at the heart of our vision.
What are the next steps for Jarvis?
We’re currently focused on bootstrapping some new and existing products through targeted incentives. That includes things like on-chain Euro accounts, tokenized fixed-income products, leveraged EUR/USD positions, and money markets. Some of these products we’ve developed in-house, others in collaboration with partners.
But beyond that, the bigger picture for us is to fully step into the DeFi yield narrative. We want to create a new category of on-chain funds, both automated and discretionary, that make use of everything I’ve learned over the years managing on-chain capital. I currently manage a DeFi-native fund for a regulated company in Luxembourg, and I’ve spent years building, optimizing, and running strategies using only on-chain tools.
Now it’s time to package that experience and offer it to others. We’ll do this by launching tokenized vaults that provide access to robust, risk-managed strategies. The idea is to make sophisticated DeFi yield generation as accessible and transparent as possible - both for individuals and institutions.
For whom can DeFi deliver value?
DeFi can create value for a wide range of users.
For retail and digital-native users, essentially anyone already in the crypto world, the appeal is straightforward: they want to generate yield on their assets. And as crypto ownership becomes more widespread, this demand will only grow. More people holding crypto means more people looking to put it to work.
For companies, DeFi is already solving real problems, particularly in payments. Whether domestic or cross-border, DeFi allows money to move faster, at a fraction of the cost, and without relying on the traditional banking system. That means 24/7 settlement, no intermediaries, and no banking hours. Beyond payments, companies are starting to use DeFi for treasury management, raising capital, and accessing global liquidity by tokenizing their assets.
Financial advisors are also tapping into DeFi to respond to client demand. Many of their clients now want exposure not just to crypto assets, but also to the yields these assets can generate. Advisors need to understand how to integrate DeFi products into their offering. And this is already happening.
And finally, there’s a massive value proposition for the unbanked or underbanked. Anyone with an internet connection can now access yields from financial instruments like U.S. Treasuries or European bonds — something that was previously unthinkable. For the first time in history, an individual anywhere in the world can tap into financial opportunities that were once exclusive to institutional investors in developed countries. DeFi breaks down those barriers.
Do you see any signs of DeFi mass adoption?
Absolutely! And not just from headlines about BlackRock or Fidelity entering the space. I see it through my day-to-day work.
For instance, I teach at Alyra, a French school focused on blockchain and AI. I built the very first DeFi course in France to receive official certification from the government. That alone was a strong sign of progress. But what really confirmed it for me was the shift in my students. A couple of years ago, most of them were individuals curious about DeFi, eager to learn how to earn yield, how protocols worked. Today, the majority are professionals: asset managers, traders, corporate treasurers, financial advisors. They’re not here out of curiosity. They’re here because they need to integrate DeFi into their work.
I’ve also seen companies like Spik, a French firm that tokenizes bonds, go from an idea to over €200 million in AUM. And their clients? They’re companies putting their treasury to work on-chain. I actually spoke to many of these companies years ago, and back then, they were cautious. Today, they’re fully onboard, and soon they’ll start lending their assets and engaging with DeFi protocols directly.
There are also more and more companies using stablecoins for cross-border payments — Transfero, Circle, and Purpl are just a few examples. These stablecoins act as backend infrastructure, powering payments at scale. The liquidity layer provided by DeFi is becoming indispensable.
Mass adoption doesn’t mean everyone is farming tokens. It means traditional financial services are being rebuilt on decentralized infrastructure - payments, funding, treasury. And with the lessons we’ve learned along the way, I believe we’ll soon see mainstream institutions lending on Aave, borrowing on Maple, and swapping on Uniswap without hesitation.
So yes, mass adoption is happening, but it doesn’t necessarily look like what people imagined: it’s not about everyone farming tokens or holding crypto in a wallet. It’s about traditional services being rebuilt on decentralized infrastructure. Payments, funding, treasury - they’re all being reimagined using DeFi as the backend. And with the resilience that this space has gained, thanks in part to painful lessons from exploits and failures, I’m confident we’ll see mainstream institutions lending on Aave, borrowing on Maple, or using Uniswap and Aerodrome for swaps in the near future.
