Decentralized finance’s (DeFi) use case in traditional finance could grow in the coming years as new protocols attempt to support the securitization of real-world assets, according to a new research report from credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings. The financing of real-world assets, or RWAs, will likely be a key focus area for DeFi protocols moving forward, S&P said in a report titled “DeFi Protocols For Securitization: A Credit Risk Perspective.” Although the industry is still in its nascent stages, S&P highlighted several benefits DeFi could bring to securitization, including reducing transaction costs, improving transparency on asset pools, reducing counterparty risks and enabling faster payment settlement for investors. “The early development of DeFi focused primarily on applications providing financial services within the crypto ecosystem, such as lending collateralized by crypto assets, investment tools for crypto assets, and crypto trading platforms,” analysts Andrew O’Neill, Alexandre Birry, Lapo Guadagnuolo and Vanessa Purwin wrote, adding: “These initial use cases were broadly disconnected from the real economy. The financing of RWAs has emerged as a theme in the DeFi space, with lending protocols offering loans originated in the traditional way, based on borrower underwriting rather than backed by crypto assets pledged as collateral.”
Full report : DeFi securitization of real-world assets poses credit risks, opportunities: S&P.
