Live From Rare Evo: What's Stopping DeFi from Going Mainstream?

Dec 3, 2025

Thorsten Jaeckel, Head of Product at 0x and Matcha, discusses the roadblocks to DeFi adoption, including regulatory challenges and user experience hurdles. He emphasizes the need for intuitive design that rivals Web2 applications. Thorsten dives into how Layer 2 solutions impact DeFi, the importance of execution transparency for trust, and the future of tokenized equities. He also shares practical tips for newcomers using Matcha to navigate DeFi with ease.

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INSIGHT

From Infrastructure To UX Focus

DeFi shifted from infrastructure-first to UX-first over the past few years.
Projects now focus on hiding plumbing and making apps feel like Web2 experiences.

ADVICE

Adopt Account Abstraction For Easier Onboarding

Use account abstraction and smart contract wallets to simplify onboarding.
Adopt paymasters to abstract gas so new users avoid dealing with EOAs and gas tokens.

INSIGHT

Execution Transparency Builds Trust

Execution transparency reduces unexpected losses from slippage and failed quotes.
Simulating routes and showing realistic outcomes builds user trust in DEX trades.

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Thorsten Jaeckel, Head of Product at 0x and Matcha, discusses the biggest hurdles facing DeFi adoption—including regulatory uncertainty, user experience challenges, security concerns, and the need for better education. Discover what it will take for decentralized finance to reach the masses and get a glimpse of the path forward for DeFi.

Key Takeaways:

How the rise of Layer 2 solutions are shaping (and complicating) the next phase of DeFi.
What's holding back tokenized equities, and what it'll take to overcome regulatory hurdles.
The significance of execution transparency in building user trust.
The importance of creating DeFi products that feel as seamless as Web2 applications.
How Matcha is making it easier for newcomers to start trading in DeFi.

Guest Bio: Thorsten Jaeckel is the Head of Product at 0x and Matcha, where he leads product development for one of the top decentralized exchange aggregators in Web3. He's been building in crypto since 2017 and previously held product leadership roles at Coinbase and Square. Thorsten focuses on making DeFi more intuitive and trustworthy, with a particular interest in multi-chain UX and execution transparency.

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