DeFi Sucks
It’s been almost 6 years since the first liquidity was ever recorded locked on-chain on Jul 1, 2018.
DeFi is still a very new, yet rapidly evolving tech. The industry learned a lot of lessons during the 2020–2023 boom and bust cycles, and the future looks bright for DeFi.
Yet, there are still many screaming problems in this space that can hamstring DeFi’s short and mid-term growth.
Most of the DeFi products are just not accessible to everyone. With 10,000+ yield farming pools, airdrop programs, and liquidity/staking opportunities, there is this paradox of choice and the paralysis it can induce for an average user. If we want to facilitate further DeFi adoption, something has to be done to demystify these complexities.
Problem 1: Disconnected & Fragmented Information
DeFi is growing fast, really fast.
In the last 7 days, more than 38 new DeFi protocols and L1/L2 chains were listed on Defillama alone.
Today there are at least 256 L1/L2s, 3,346+ protocols, and 12,661+ yield-generating pools.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. We estimate the current DeFi trackers are only capturing about 20–40% of the total DeFi landscape. There are so many protocols, DAOs, and hidden opportunities flying under the radar.
Right now, if you’re a DeFi user, you have to juggle between 6 dozen browser tabs, countless Telegram channels, and hundreds of Twitter feeds just to stay in the loop. It’s a lot, and it’s messy.
Information moves at the speed of light, but DeFi users and their human brains do not. For the non-crypto natives just joining the ecosystem, how is it even possible to get started let alone keep up?
The composability of DeFi is both a blessing and a curse. The fact that you can interconnect various DeFi protocols with each other offers a great opportunity to create more comprehensive decentralized financial systems, but this creates an additional layer of complexity for the average Joe.
The simple fact is that DeFi is NEVER going mainstream in this state. We think it’s great that we can figure this all out and then farm 50–100% APY on stable pairings — the average Joe doesn’t think it’s so great if they need to spend the next 6 months learning and then basically start a full-time job to stay ahead of the curve. All of the data in all of DeFi needs to be consolidated and easily accessible to encourage a more open and fair ecosystem or else the majority of people will continue to simply not participate.
Problem 2: High Risks & Opaqueness of Risks
Everyone who’s been in crypto long enough has lost money at some point. Hacks, exploits, wallet drainers, scams, shitcoins, rugpulls. or just poorly-timed investments. More than $79 billion was lost in DeFi. It’s almost accepted as ‘normal’ at this point.
A big part of the problem is that most DeFi projects don’t talk much about risk. You can find a lot of info about the potential profits you can make but not much about what could go wrong. And that’s a big missing piece.
When you’re putting money into something, you should have a clear picture of what the risks are.
“What’s the source of the yield?”
“What are the chances it’s a scam?”
“What’s the chance of it going to zero?”
These are all questions that have no clear answers, and maybe they never will. But for DeFi to go mainstream, we need to establish a level of trust for the end user and at least be able to address these risks upfront and offer as much data as possible to inform investment decisions.
This includes solutions such as on-chain verification and identities, as well as the consolidation of established auditors and their reports, but ultimately it will be solved by AI agents crawling through blockchain explorers and databases to assess risks and provide accurate reports. When this solution hits the market, DeFi could go mainstream overnight.
Problem 3: Clunky UX
The Challenge of Overwhelming Interfaces
DeFi today is like walking into a room where everyone is talking at once. You’ve got information on yields, LPs, and token rates coming at you from all sides. It’s a lot.
For instance, a dApp might show you 10 different numbers and percentages for a simple deposit, but which one do you need to care about? This information overload isn’t just confusing — it’s a roadblock for newcomers.
I don’t want to call out anyone in particular — I’m not here to bash anyone’s hard work. Just my observation: when it comes to design, less is often more. The best tools out there are ones that don’t make you think too hard, like Google’s search bar. It’s a model of simplicity.
That’s what we need in DeFi: a clean, straightforward design that anyone can understand at a glance. No one should need a manual to figure out where to click to make a deposit or check their balance.
The Grandma Test
Think about your grandma using DeFi. Could she make a trade or lend her tokens without calling you for help? That’s the “Grandma Test,” and right now, most DeFi platforms would fail it miserably.
Problem 4: Cross-chain Friction
Imagine you’re shopping online, but each item on your list is sold on a different website. There’s no Amazon, just a bunch of online stores putting up random items with no particular rhyme or reason. Also, you need a different kind of currency for each different store, and sometimes even for different items in the same store.
That’s what dealing with multiple L1/L2 networks feels like. You might find a great yield pool on Ethereum, but the next day, there’s a better one on Arbitrum. Now you need to withdraw and swap and bridge and swap again to get the right asset ratios and then deposit and hope you don’t see a better pool the day after. Keeping up can feel like a full-time job.
Moreover, each chain has its own set of rules and gas fees, which can eat into your gains if you’re not careful. Transferring tokens between chains can get expensive and risky, as the bridges themselves can be points of vulnerability. The majority of the top 10 biggest crypto hacks in the $100m+ range were the result of bridge exploits.
The cross-chain issue isn’t just about convenience; it’s about security and efficiency. Solving interoperability opens up the entire DeFi industry to the rest of Web2 and Web3. That’s when mainstream adoption can happen.
Problem 5: Variable Yields
Yield farming is an essential component to all of DeFi. It’s how market makers and liquidity providers and governance participants are rewarded for their efforts and investments, and it’s also how decentralized markets can even exist in the first place.
But the volatility and variability of yields are hard blockers for most entrants into the space.
Today, you might put your crypto into a DeFi pool with 30% APY, but just a week later, it could plummet to 10%. It’s unpredictable. To stay on top of this, you need to be constantly on the lookout, ready to move your assets to where the yields are best.
It’s like having a job where you’re on call 24/7. You need systems to alert you the moment yields change, and then you have to act fast to rebalance your portfolio. And that’s not even touching on impermanent loss.
Is there a way?
When we consider mass DeFi adoption, it doesn’t mean your girlfriend’s parents joining 20 DAOs, participating in governance, buying up a bunch of memecoins + an extra screen to fit all their charts on, and getting a blue check on X so they can post their gains. It actually looks a lot more like traditional finance — passive, private, and relatively safe environment — because average people’s psychology and behavior aren’t going to change much, regardless of how big of a revolution occurs in finance.
Mass DeFi adoption looks like your girlfriend’s parents adding monthly to their portfolio and providing liquidity to get passive income from more active traders. But it’s never going to happen until rebalancing and accounting for yield variability become effortless, if not entirely automated.
And none of that can happen unless the previous 5 problems in this list are solved.
My Vision of the Ideal World
Imagine a world where the entire DeFi universe is at your fingertips. Every pool, every airdrop you’ve ever wanted to explore is collected in one user-friendly platform. This isn’t just a list; it’s a community-driven and AI-powered resource that grows smarter every day, much like Wikipedia does for knowledge. In this world, you’re not jumping from one site to another in search of the best DeFi opportunities — they’re all here, in one place, updated in real-time.
In this place, everything is transparent. Thanks to AI-powered data insights, you know the risks and returns up front, thanks to clear ratings and scores from reliable sources. It’s about making informed decisions and feeling secure in your choices.
In this place, cross-chain boundaries cease to exist. Managing multi-chain portfolios used to be a headache, right? Now, it’s as smooth as streaming your favorite song. Whether the opportunities are on Ethereum, BNB, or Solana, you’re there with a click. You feel like a local, not a foreigner anymore.
The key to all this? An interface that’s so simple, anyone can use it. It’s not just easy; it’s intuitive. It’s designed for everyone, regardless of how tech-savvy they are. Imagine having an AI-powered DeFi dashboard that not only tracks your positions but also makes them work harder for you, tackling things like rebalancing, reporting, smart alerts, and auto-compounding.
Beyond DeFi
Now picture this: in the next 5 to 10 years, we’re going to see hundreds of millions of new users entering DeFi. It’s inevitable. Every financial asset from stocks to real estate is moving onto the blockchain.
The total value of managed assets worldwide is more than $100 trillion, and there’s a good chance we’ll see these assets being tokenized and traded on-chain in the coming decade.
As all this unfolds, people will need a platform that makes stepping into DeFi simple.
That’s where OneClick.Fi comes in. I’m working on the project where the goal is to be the go-to platform for the next generation of DeFi users. In addition to DeFi and cross-chain aggregation, we’re talking about real tools for real people — things like direct on-ramps that take you from cash to crypto, easy-to-use wallets, and AI that guides you through the DeFi space. Think about having your own OneClick.Fi card in your wallet, just like the credit cards you use today.
So, as DeFi becomes home to every imaginable asset, OneClick.Fi aims to be the bridge for everyday users to this new world. It’s not just a platform; it’s an ecosystem that’s welcoming, that’s intuitive, and that’s ready for the future of finance. And it’s all just one click away.
Do you want to join us on this journey?
If you finished reading it until the end — congratulations, we are aligned. We’d like to hear from you.
We are raising.
OneClick.Fi is opening a limited private token allocation to early supporters sharing the same vision. To learn more and get whitelisted, fill in this form.
We are hiring.
See the open roles here.
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