Serving in the traditional finance (TradFi) space for over 25 years, it’s no surprise I identify as TradFi. Perhaps that is why so much of what was said at the Eve Wealth Summit felt so familiar.
For all the ways decentralized finance (DeFi) is positioned as new, disruptive and structurally different, many of the themes discussed sounded a lot like the ones TradFi has been working through for years: education, adoption, distribution, regulation, infrastructure and trust.
The technology may be different. The path to broader acceptance is not.
That was one of the clearest, most curious takeaways from the Eve Wealth Summit our firm attended last week in Arizona. Beneath the headlines around tokenization, digital assets, interoperability and on-chain infrastructure was a far more familiar story: innovation alone is rarely enough. Markets still need language, standards, access points, operating models and institutional confidence before real scale can happen.
That dynamic felt especially familiar when viewed through the lens of asset management, particularly the relationship between private funds and registered fund structures. Each has long existed side by side, with distinct structures, audiences and distribution models. Private funds often offer flexibility, specialization and differentiated exposure. Registered funds offer accessibility, familiarity and broader distribution. While different in form, both have been shaped by many of the same forces: investor education, product design, regulatory clarity, operational readiness and the ongoing push to align innovation with access. We continue to see a convergence in use cases industry participants continue to innovate.
In that way, the relationship between TradFi and DeFi feels less like a clash of opposites and more like a stepped-up version of market evolution:
And over time, the market begins to distinguish between what is novel and what is genuinely scalable. That distinction matters.
One of the more consistent messages coming through the summit was that the conversation is moving from why to how. That is typically a sign of maturation. It suggests the market is spending less time debating whether the innovation matters and more time focused on what it will take to make it usable, investable and durable. That is where education becomes essential.
Adoption does not happen simply because something is technically better. It happens when the market understands what problem is being solved, who benefits, how risk is managed and what needs to change operationally for broader participation to follow. In TradFi, we have seen this repeatedly. Product innovation can be powerful, but distribution, familiarity and investor understanding often determine whether that innovation remains niche or becomes part of the mainstream. Look at what’s happening in real time with the approval of alternative investments in retirement plans. The same appears to be true here.
DeFi may offer new rails, greater efficiency and meaningful opportunities to rethink how financial systems operate. But broader adoption will still depend on the things that have always mattered in financial markets: trust, usability, governance, compliance, interoperability and the ability to connect innovation to real-world investor outcomes.
That is also why M&A feels important in this moment.
In emerging areas of finance, M&A often does more than create scale. It can accelerate legitimacy. It can bridge capability gaps. It can connect infrastructure with distribution. It can pair innovation with institutional trust. And it can help move the market forward faster than organic evolution alone. In many cases, M&A is not just a growth strategy. It is a translation mechanism.
That may prove especially relevant as traditional firms look to deepen digital capabilities and digitally native firms look to strengthen distribution, compliance and institutional reach. If the goal is broader adoption, convergence may matter as much as disruption.
The future of finance may not be defined by whether one system replaces another. It may be shaped by how effectively these systems learn from one another, borrow from one another and, in some cases, merge.
For someone who still identifies as TradFi, there is clearly immense value we can all help create as we work together during this time of innovation and transformation.
Contact Camille Clemons or a member of your service team to discuss this topic further.
In this blog Cohen & Co is not rendering legal, accounting, investment, tax or other professional advice. Rather, the information contained in this blog is for general informational purposes only. Any decisions or actions based on the general information contained in this blog should be made or taken only after a detailed review of the specific facts, circumstances and current law with your professional advisers.