Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic blockchain and creator of Fantom Network, has reignited debate by declaring that decentralized finance in its original form no longer exists. Speaking during the Chain Reaction X Spaces show, Cronje said, “I don’t think DeFi exists anymore outside of those very small niches,” and argued that most protocols have migrated to what he calls “onchain finance” or “open finance.”
According to Cronje, genuine DeFi requires three conditions: real decentralization, immutability, and the absence of intermediaries. In his view, no relevant active protocol currently satisfies all three. He pointed to the introduction of risk committees, curators, and centralized decision-makers as evidence that many blockchain-based services now reproduce the logic of traditional banking under a decentralized interface.
His comments come after earlier warnings in early 2026, when he said much of the ecosystem had abandoned its essence amid developer debates over emergency mechanisms such as circuit breakers. While formal know-your-customer checks, anti-money laundering compliance, and legal entities have become common in institutional-grade platforms, Cronje acknowledged that genuine innovations still exist in small niches.
Data and regulatory analysis lend weight to some of his concerns. DefiLlama figures show total value locked in decentralized protocols fell from $167 billion in October 2025 to $75 billion in August 2026, a drop of more than 50% in ten months. Separately, the European Central Bank examined Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth, and Uniswap and found that the top 100 governance token holders controlled more than 80% of supply in each case. ECB authors questioned whether such protocols deserve to remain classified as “fully decentralized services” under the European Union’s MiCA framework.
For users, developers, and regulators, the shift from DeFi to onchain finance raises practical questions about trustlessness, compliance, and control. Cronje’s remarks frame a broader industry maturation: as blockchain integrates with traditional systems, it may be compromising the very principles that made DeFi revolutionary.
