Vitalik Buterin announced in September 2025 that low-risk DeFi, rather than memecoins, should underpin Ethereumโs economy to ensure long-term stability and ethical alignment.
This shift highlights Ethereumโs focus on sustainable growth, attracting renewed investor confidence and regulatory clarity, evidenced by rising total value locked in DeFi protocols.
Vitalik Buterin Promotes Stable DeFi for Ethereum Growth
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereumโs co-founder, favors low-risk DeFi as the backbone of Ethereumโs economy. He argues for stability and ethical alignment over speculative assets like memecoins, seeking long-term revenue.
Buterin stresses the importance of building Ethereum on core financial services such as payment systems and savings accounts. He contrasts this with the volatile impact of NFTs and memecoins.
$100 Billion Locked in Ethereumโs DeFi Sector
Buterinโs stance has received broad support within the Ethereum community. Regulatory advancements and increased safety in smart contracts motivate confidence in low-risk DeFi models.
Financial and regulatory outcomes appear promising, with Ethereumโs DeFi Total Value Locked exceeding $100 billion. On-chain metrics indicate a robust focus on stable assets like USDC, demonstrating investor confidence.
Shift from Memecoins to Ethical DeFi Growth
Ethereum previously faced volatility from memecoin and NFT cycles. Buterinโs advocacy represents a shift towards sustainable financial practices. Past speculative booms lacked network stability.
Experts foresee low-risk DeFi as capable of addressing longstanding Ethereum community tensions. โLow-risk DeFi could address โimportant tensionsโ in the Ethereum community over whether apps that bring in enough revenue to economically sustain the ecosystem align with the cultural and ethical values that brought people to Ethereum in the first place.โ โ Vitalik Buterin, Co-founder, Ethereum Foundation
The evolution of regulatory clarity and risk controls is seen as a powerful catalyst for DeFiโs growth.
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