Fireside Chat with Chaeho Shin (1inch) and Yana Prikhodchenko (Cointelegraph) at ETHConf

Thu, Jul 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

In this fireside chat, Yana Prikhodchenko from Cointelegraph interviews Chaeho Shin, CEO of 1inch, on the state of DeFi liquidity, the convergence of TradFi and DeFi, regulatory clarity, and 1inch's plans for shared liquidity. Chaeho frames the core problem facing DeFi today: roughly 80 to 90% of liquidity is sitting idle because of fragmentation across separate liquidity pools. He explains that 1inch is solving this by introducing a shared liquidity protocol that allows assets in users' wallets to be shared across different liquidity pools without ever leaving self custody, which he positions as the next major DeFi innovation since the original liquidity pool concept from 2019 to 2020. The conversation moves into RWAs, where Chaeho identifies the two biggest barriers to real adoption: compliance and regulatory issues, and liquidity fragmentation that prevents efficient trading at TradFi comparable rates. He notes the disconnect between roughly $30 billion in RWAs onchain and only $2.5 billion actively used in DeFi, and explains that 1inch is positioning to be the most regulatory ready DeFi protocol and a partner swap engine for RWA platforms. He argues the real breakthrough for RWAs in DeFi is the ability to generate additional yield from liquidity pool trading fees on top of the underlying security's dividends. On geographic differences, Chaeho explains that APAC markets including his native Korea remain much more retail focused than the US, but they all benchmark against Wall Street and are waiting for US regulatory clarity (especially the Clarity Act addressing questions he started asking nine years ago) before institutional adoption accelerates. He closes by predicting that shared liquidity will be the dominant DeFi narrative in 2026 and 2027, replacing speculation with fundamentally supported higher yields driven by better capital efficiency. 00:00 Introduction 00:08 Thanks to the Organizers 00:47 Chaeho's TradFi to Crypto Journey 01:10 The TradFi DeFi Convergence Since 2024 01:46 Why 80 to 90% of DeFi Liquidity Sits Idle 02:36 Introducing 1inch Shared Liquidity Protocol 03:13 Self Custody While Sharing Across Pools 03:46 Are AMMs the Bottleneck for the Next Phase 04:59 No Real DeFi Innovation Since 2019 2020 05:36 RWAs: Why 30 Billion Onchain but Only 2.5 Billion in DeFi 06:27 Compliance and Liquidity as the Two RWA Hurdles 07:14 1inch as the RWA Swap Engine 07:52 The Real RWA Breakthrough: Extra DeFi Yield on Top of Dividends 09:28 APAC vs US Capital Allocation 10:01 Why APAC Remains Retail Focused 10:48 APAC Benchmarking Against Wall Street 11:52 Waiting for US Regulatory Clarity 12:26 Key Learnings From the Clarity Act 13:52 What's Next for DeFi Liquidity 14:16 The Yield Problem in Bear Market DeFi 15:32 Better Capital Efficiency as the Solution 16:00 Bonus Round: Morning Routine and Personal Strategy 16:26 Bull or Bear: Building Through Cycles 16:46 1inch's Big Goal for 2026 to 2027 17:17 Predicting the Hottest DeFi Narrative 17:49 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *ETHConf 2026* ETHConf is a 3 day event for founders, industry leaders, and builders who are excited about the possibilities of building on top of Ethereum. Connect with 2,000+ top innovators in crypto, finance, technology, and policy at our inaugural three-day event packed with showcases, demos, partnerships, and conversations shaping the future of the global economy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHConf* X: https://x.com/ethconf Website: https://ethconf.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎟️ Get your early bird tickets for ETHConf 2027: https://ethconf.com/2027#tickets 🎤 View the full ETHConf 2026 Speaker Schedule: https://ethconf.com/schedule _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _