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The Gap Between TradFi and DeFi

Traditional finance operates predominantly on fixed rates. DeFi does not. This gap represents one of the largest untapped opportunities in crypto.

$300T+

Global fixed-income market size

Less than 2%

DeFi lending that’s fixed-rate

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Why Fixed Rates Dominate Traditional Finance

In traditional finance, fixed-rate instruments represent the majority of lending:
MarketSizeFixed Rate %
US Treasury Bonds$33T100%
Corporate Bonds$15T95%
Mortgage Market$12T70%
Consumer Loans$4T85%
The reason is simple: businesses, institutions, and individuals need predictable costs to plan and operate effectively.

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DeFi’s Current State

DeFi lending today is almost entirely variable-rate:
ProtocolTVLRate Type
Aave$15B+Variable
Compound$3B+Variable
MakerDAO$8B+Variable
Total Fixed-RateLess than $500MLess than 2%
This is not because users prefer variable rates, it’s because fixed-rate infrastructure didn’t exist.

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User Demand is Clear

Our research shows overwhelming preference for fixed rates:
67% of DeFi users say they would prefer fixed rates if availableTop reasons:
  • Predictable yields for planning
  • Reduced liquidation risk
  • Less need for constant monitoring

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The Institutional Blocker

Institutions cannot meaningfully adopt DeFi lending without fixed rates:
Corporate treasuries need to know exact returns for cash management. Variable rates make this impossible.
Many jurisdictions require clear disclosure of expected returns. Variable rates complicate compliance filings.
Institutional risk frameworks require quantifiable interest rate exposure. Unbounded variable rates fail risk assessments.
Auditors need to verify expected vs actual returns. Variable rate reconciliation is costly and error-prone.

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RWA Collateral Expands the Market

53% of surveyed users want to use real-world assets as collateral. This opens entirely new markets.
Centuari’s RWA collateral support enables:
Asset ClassExampleMarket Size
EquitiesTokenized stocks$100T+
Fixed IncomeTreasury tokens$30T+
CommoditiesGold tokens$15T+
Real EstateProperty tokens$300T+
By accepting RWA collateral, Centuari can serve users who have wealth outside of crypto but want access to DeFi yields.

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Competitive Landscape

ProtocolFixed RatesCross-ChainRWA CollateralGasless
Aave❌Partial❌❌
Compound❌❌❌❌
Notional✅❌❌❌
Term Finance✅❌❌❌
Centuari✅✅✅✅

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The Neobank 2.0 Vision

Centuari isn’t just a lending protocol, it’s infrastructure for the next generation of financial services.
1

Fixed-Rate Lending Core

Predictable yields and borrowing costs that institutions require
2

Multi-Currency Support

USDC, EURC, JPYC, and more stablecoins for global reach
3

RWA Integration

Bridge traditional assets into DeFi capital markets
4

Embedded Credit (Credit Kit)

White-label infrastructure for fintechs and neobanks

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Market Sizing

Serviceable Obtainable Market

$5B Current DeFi fixed-rate lending demand

Serviceable Available Market

$50B DeFi users who would use fixed rates

Total Addressable Market

$300T+ Global fixed-income market

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Why Now?

Several factors make this the right time for fixed-rate DeFi:
  1. Infrastructure maturity: Cross-chain bridges, gasless transactions, and account abstraction are now production-ready
  2. RWA tokenization: Major institutions (BlackRock, Franklin Templeton) are tokenizing assets
  3. Regulatory clarity: Emerging frameworks provide clearer compliance paths
  4. User sophistication: DeFi users now understand and demand better financial products

Learn about our vision

See how Centuari plans to capture this opportunity