Chainlink CEO: Speed of US Financial System's On-Chain Transition Will Determine Its Global Standing

August 21 - At the first meeting of the US CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee, Chainlink Co-founder and CEO Sergey Nazarov said he is grateful that the CFTC and SEC have finally begun cooperating efficiently and constructively, rather than publicly conflicting with each other as before. He noted that this in itself has significantly enhanced the reputation and trust in US financial markets, and helps form a unified regulatory vision, avoiding the multiple conflicting rules that have previously hindered innovation. Nazarov pointed out that regulatory fragmentation has come at a severe cost. Chainlink provides data, cross-chain, and other infrastructure for thousands of applications, underpinning much of the DeFi ecosystem. Over the past seven years, he has witnessed hundreds of developers leave the US due to uncertainty, no longer building high-quality applications in the country or serving American consumers—a tremendous loss to the US financial system and consumers. He emphasized that the next trend is clear: tokenization of equities will unlock significant on-chain value. US stock markets currently account for approximately 60% of global equity market value and volume. If the global financial system accelerates its move on-chain, the US must advance its own on-chain transition at an equal or faster pace to maintain this dominant position; otherwise, its innovation and market advantages could be lost.