There’s a version of the future that’s become almost canonical in crypto: DeFi and TradFi converge, permissionless liquidity meets institutional distribution, and the result is some elegant hybrid that captures the best of both worlds — and the new system subsumes the old.

It’s a comforting story. It’s also mostly wrong.

Here’s the more honest version: where TradFi can use a blockchain to make its existing business better, it will. Not because it has embraced decentralization, but because it’s a compelling COGS story — the technology happens to cut costs, improve settlement, expand distribution, and tighten its grip on customer relationships.

What this means is that institutions aren’t somehow merging with DeFi….