Why did ARK Invest and Sentora publish a DeFi thesis?

ARK Invest and Sentora said decentralised finance is becoming more relevant as institutions adopt blockchain technology and tokenised financial products.

What is decentralised finance (DeFi)?

Decentralised finance (DeFi) is a blockchain-based financial system that enables services such as lending, trading and payments without traditional intermediaries.

What are the main drivers of DeFi growth?

The report identified tokenisation, blockchain infrastructure, regulatory progress and institutional participation as the main growth drivers.

Why are traditional financial firms interested in blockchain?

Financial institutions are exploring blockchain to improve settlement times, increase efficiency and expand access to digital financial products.

Which cryptocurrency tokens were mentioned?

The article discussed decentralised finance and tokenisation but did not identify any specific cryptocurrency token.

Investment

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Ark and Sentora outline DeFi investment thesis

Written by Heidi Cuthbert Published Jul 17, 2026, 1:10 AM

ARK Invest and Sentora, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), have outlined a new investment thesis for decentralised finance.
The report argues blockchain infrastructure is becoming a core part of global financial markets.
The firms expect tokenisation and institutional adoption to drive the next phase of DeFi growth.

ARK Invest and Sentora, which is backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), have published a new investment thesis arguing that decentralised finance (DeFi) is entering a new phase of institutional adoption.

The report said tokenisation, blockchain infrastructure and regulated financial products are helping bridge traditional finance with decentralised markets.

The firms said improvements in regulation, scalability and institutional participation are strengthening the long-term outlook for DeFi.

The report highlighted tokenised real-world assets, stablecoins and blockchain-based financial services as key areas expected to support future industry growth.

ARK Invest and Sentora said traditional financial institutions are increasingly exploring blockchain technology to improve settlement, efficiency and market access.

The firms argued that continued infrastructure development could expand the role of decentralised networks within mainstream financial services.

The latest report reflects growing confidence among investment firms that blockchain-based financial infrastructure will play a larger role alongside traditional markets.