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

- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2026-07-09
- Duration: 17:51
- Topics: 1inch, Chaeho Shin, Yana Prikhodchenko, Cointelegraph, ETHCom, DeFi, shared liquidity, liquidity fragmentation, AMM, capital efficiency, self custody, yield, RWAs, real world assets, tokenization, institutional adoption, compliance, regulation, Clarity Act, TradFi convergence, APAC, Korea, Wall Street, retail, swap engine, liquidity pools, securitize, securities, dividends, trading fees, bear market, speculation, builders, next generation DeFi, capital markets, onchain, protocol, innovation
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-GYSxIoE_JoU
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYSxIoE_JoU

## Description

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

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