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.
More For You
This article is created to test tags being added to image overlays

Dek: This article is created to test tags being added to image overlays
What to know:
- Ethena's USDe becomes fifth stablecoin to surpass $10 billion market cap in just 609 days, while Tether's dominance continues to slip.