- Back to menuPrices
- Back to menuResearch
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menuResearch
How DeFi Could Disrupt Traditional Finance, Feat. Sergey Nazarov
"Imagine a world without counterparty risk..." - Chainlink's co-founder Sergey Nazarov shares why the move from brand-based contracts to math-based contracts is inevitable.

"Imagine a world without counterparty risk..." - Chainlink's co-founder shares why the move from brand-based contracts to math-based contracts is inevitable.
For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.
This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Crypto.com.
Today on the Brief:
- Big tech goes to Washington
- The debate on the next COVID-19 relief act heats up
- More on institutional investors’ move into gold
Imagine a world without counterparty risk.
That was Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov’s answer when asked to describe the true disruption of decentralized finance to a traditional finance audience.
See also: A Simple Explanation of DeFi and Yield Farming Using Actual Human Words
On this episode of The Breakdown, Sergey and NLW discuss:
- Brand-based contracts vs. math-based contracts
- The history of smart contracts
- What it means to build an “abstraction layer” for “universally connected smart contracts”
- Key moments in the history of smart contract infrastructure
- Where smart contracts and DeFi are in terms of analogies to the early internet
- Why Sergey believes traditional finance will inevitably shift to a math-based contract model
Find our guest online:
Website: Chainlink
Twitter: @SergeyNazarov
For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.
Nathaniel Whittemore
NLW is an independent strategy and communications consultant for leading crypto companies as well as host of The Breakdown – the fastest-growing podcast in crypto. Whittemore has been a VC with Learn Capital, was on the founding team of Change.org, and founded a program design center at his alma mater Northwestern University that helped inspire the largest donation in the school’s history.
