How To Make DeFi Great Again | Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic & Luca Prosperi

About this episode

Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic and Luca Prosperi discuss the future of DeFi, including current challenges and opportunities.

This week, Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic & Luca Prosperi join the show to discuss what's next for DeFi in 2026. We deep dive into why are rates so low in DeFi today, how to mitigate risk, the growth of stablecoins, the fallout from Drift's exploit, the opportunity for prediction markets and more. Enjoy! -- Follow Adrian: https://x.com/adcv_ Follow Luca: https://x.com/LucaProsperi Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod -- Referenced in the show: https://kitchen.steakhouse.financial/ # 68 | The Physics of On-Chain Lending (I): https://dirtroads.substack.com/p/68-the-physics-of-on-chain-lending?triedRedirect=true -- ZKsync is the Bank Stack of Ethereum. It is a network of chains secured by cryptography, not validators. Its cutting-edge ZK innovation enables the privacy, performance and connectivity that businesses need to thrive in the digital assets economy. To find out more visit: https://www.zksync.io/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:42) Why Are Rates in DeFi So Low? (16:32) The Physics of Onchain Lending (24:33) ZKsync Ad (25:16) The Biggest Risk In DeFi Today (52:58) What’s Next For DeFi In 2026 & Beyond? (01:02:18) How To…

People in this episode

Host: Jason Yanowitz

Guests: Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic, Luca Prosperi

Topics covered

• DeFi
• stablecoins
• risk mitigation
• prediction markets
• crypto trends

Keywords

• DeFi
• stablecoins
• risk
• Drift exploit
• prediction markets
• crypto
• 2026

Sponsors

ZKsync

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Drift, ZKsync, Empire

Books & works: The Physics of On-Chain Lending

More episodes of Empire

• Blockworks Acquires Messari · June 12, 2026 · 29 min
• CFTC Chair Michael Selig On Perps, Prediction Markets & Crypto In The U.S · June 8, 2026 · 1h 3m
• SpaceX’s $1.75T IPO, Strategy Sells Bitcoin & Crypto’s Hard Reset · June 5, 2026 · 1h 17m
• Avichal Garg On Investing in Crypto, AI and Ethereum’s Path Forward · June 1, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Why’s Everyone So Bearish, Robinhood's AI Agent and SoFi's Stablecoin Launch · May 29, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Hyperliquid Just Had It's Breakout Moment · May 22, 2026 · 58 min