thestreet.com
The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has long been a magnet for traders seeking sky-high yields and stomach-turning risks.
Speaking to TheStreet Roundtable, Nic Roberts-Huntley, founder and CEO of Blueprint, said that the sector is evolving beyond its speculative roots.
He highlighted his firm's approach to building a “sustainable business” that delivers attractive yet measured returns to users.
“You either have those who just want to run maximum risk — pure risk capital, if it goes to zero, it is what it is,” Roberts-Huntley said. “That’s not what we do. We want to build a really big, sustainable business. And we will reward our customers in kind with better rates and better experiences”.
This philosophy signals a shift within DeFi itself.
While the early years of decentralized lending and yield farming were dominated by experimental “degens,” a growing number of platforms are now focusing on capital preservation, compliance, and consistent yield generation, features that resonate with traditional investors.
From degens to disciplined investors
Blueprint’s user base tends to split into two camps.
On one side are seasoned crypto traders comfortable with volatility and leverage.
On the other side are traditional finance participants or investors who understand returns but remain cautious about counterparty and smart contract risk.
“For those coming from traditional finance, the question now is how to make their assets productive without taking on too much risk to their underlying principle,” he said.
This means finding a middle ground between risk-taking and prudence, where investors can earn yield without gambling their capital away.
The company has increasingly found itself in discussions with institutional investors exploring what Roberts-Huntley calls “the boundary of acceptable risk.” These conversations mark a notable trend in 2026, which is the merging of decentralized innovation with institutional-grade risk frameworks.
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Leverage is freedom and responsibility
Despite Blueprint’s conservative ethos, it still embraces user autonomy, one of decentralized finance's defining features.
Participants can choose their own leverage levels, allowing both risk-takers and risk-averse users to operate within the same ecosystem. But that freedom, Roberts-Huntley warned, comes with consequences.
“If you set yourself too far up the leverage curve, your risk can get exponentially worse in terms of drawdown,” he said. “But in an open system, you have to afford people the ability to make mistakes as well as make good”.
This balanced view encapsulates the new DeFi narrative of freedom with accountability.