Universal Finance: The Next Step Beyond CeFi, DeFi, and TradFi
Forget the turf wars. The next financial revolution isn't about picking a side.
It's about building a system that doesn't force you to choose. A new paradigm is emerging—one that cuts through the silos of TradFi's legacy gatekeepers, bypasses the technical friction of DeFi, and transcends the custodial limits of CeFi. This isn't an evolution; it's a convergence.
The Seamless Protocol
Imagine executing a complex cross-border derivatives trade with the same ease as sending a text. The back-end seamlessly stitches together a regulated brokerage, a decentralized liquidity pool, and a centralized exchange's order book—all without the user ever seeing the seams. The technology doesn't just bridge these worlds; it makes their borders irrelevant.
Why This Changes Everything
This shift moves the debate from 'which system is best' to 'what's the optimal path for this specific need.' It unlocks capital efficiency that makes current models look like they're running on dial-up. Suddenly, yield generation, risk management, and asset custody become composable functions, not walled-garden services.
The Human Factor
Adoption won't hinge on convincing people to care about blockchain trilemmas. It will succeed by delivering a user experience so intuitive that the underlying complexity becomes invisible. The winner won't be the most ideologically pure protocol, but the one that gets out of the user's way—a refreshing change from an industry that often seems to profit from complexity itself.
The final barrier isn't technological. It's the entrenched interests clinging to their slice of a fragmented pie. Universal Finance proposes a radical idea: what if the system was designed for the user, not the intermediary? After decades of financial 'innovation' that mostly innovated new fee structures, that alone would be revolutionary.
That’s why, from the point of view of the future of finance, it makes more sense to view all these systems not as rivals, but as compatible pieces that can come together to build something even better.
In this article, let’s explore what can happen when traditional and digital finance learn to work together — and why this “universal” model is a logical next step for the industry.
The CeFi vs. DeFi Debate Is Becoming Obsolete
In 2025, framing everything as a battle between centralized and decentralized finance feels outdated, as the boundaries themselves are blurring.
Centralized exchanges now integrate on-chain elements like non-custodial wallets and tokenized assets. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols introduce KYC processes and compliance tools to attract institutions. In 2025, over 40% of DeFi platforms offer optional KYC processes (up from 25% in 2024), showing that the sector is increasingly adopting compliance frameworks previously reserved for traditional finance.
Ample evidence shows quite clearly that we are moving toward interoperability. How efficiently liquidity, governance, and value FLOW across systems will be the core point of discussion from now on. Proving this point, a research covering cross-chain arbitrages between CEXs and DEXs through 2023–2025 has found that over $230 million had already been flowing freely between centralized and decentralized venues.
From the point of view of an average user, this is certainly a change for the better due to the simplicity it brings. Most people don’t care if a platform is “centralized” or “decentralized” — they just want more efficient ways to MOVE their money or invest. If it works and works reliably, then that’s all that matters.
Banks and Exchanges Are Meeting in the Middle
The convergence between banks and exchanges is another front where change is gradually taking place.
Large banks like DBS and Sygnum have already launched tokenization services for various assets and are experimenting with DeFi infrastructure to improve settlement efficiency. So clearly, traditional finance is no longer ignoring on-chain infrastructure.
While on the other side, we have exchanges expanding beyond trading, and offering payment solutions, yield products, and even debit cards — in other words, products and services that understand TradFi logic.
These are all prime examples of convergence happening right in front of our eyes. The point is not necessarily for them to become completely identical, but to learn from each other’s strengths and take another step on the evolutionary ladder.
Additionally, on a purely practical level, there are very real benefits to such growth for users as well. When people can manage their entire financial lives in a single ecosystem without switching between fragmented services, that’s more than just convenience or efficiency. This is when finance truly starts approaching the meaning of being “universal.”
The Logic of Universal Finance
One important thing to understand about “universal finance” is that it’s not just a technical evolution, but a cultural one, as well.
Think of it as removing friction between old and new systems. The robust and long-standing TradFi infrastructure and the flexibility of crypto assets and DeFi put together to serve the same purpose: user empowerment.
Consumers have already been demanding this change for a while. The younger, more technically involved generation doesn’t see money as something static; to them, it’s primarily digital, and so it needs to be as dynamic and fluid as the Flow of information in modern-day society.
In fact, according to McKinsey, over 90% of consumers across the U.S. and Europe made some kind of digital payment in 2024. And along with that, about 60% of Gen Z said they were expecting to make use of digital wallets more often in 2025. They expect financial services to be instant, so they can move value across borders, assets, and platforms practically on a daily basis.
When this new landscape fully establishes itself, we will be seeing banks acting like exchanges, running on-chain operations with tokenized assets, while exchanges will, in turn, start behaving like banks, offering savings, payments, and lending services.
This convergence is also a step toward greater regulatory alignment. As exchanges adopt more safeguards rooted in traditional financial practices and banks experiment with blockchain infrastructure, it will become that much more necessary to develop frameworks that can protect consumers across platforms without stifling innovation.
The Coming Wave of Super Apps
The topic of universal exchanges is also inescapably connected with the topic of super apps — platforms that can do everything in one place, including trading, saving, investing, and paying bills. These super apps will be the face of the next financial revolution.
Market reports show that the super apps sector already stood at almost $128 billion in size in 2025 and is projected to surpass $440 billion by 2030. And it’s not hard to see why: just imagine a NEAR future where your exchange app offers the same (or better) financial tools as your traditional bank, but with the addition of real-time settlements, 24/7 access, and borderless transactions.
A few years ago, many of us believed that exchanges WOULD become more like banks. Now, I find myself thinking the opposite — that banks will become more like exchanges.
What It Means for Regulators and Consumers
For regulators, this upcoming merging of finance presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
The challenge lies in figuring out consistent frameworks for hybrid-type platforms that operate across traditional and decentralized systems. Admittedly, not an easy matter to consider. But the payoff is also tremendous. If done successfully, the world will get a unified financial environment that will be safer, faster, and more transparent than anything before.
For consumers everywhere, it will mean choice — they’ll no longer have to choose between “banking” and “crypto.” They’ll simply use “finance ” in whatever FORM best fits their needs at any given moment.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cryptonews.com. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment or financial advice.
