Why the Founders of Aave and Sky Are Still Bullish on Ethereum DeFi - Ep. 781

Despite the ups and downs of the Ethereum ecosystem, two of its most influential builders—Aave’s Stani Kulechov and Sky’s Rune Christensen—remain bullish.
In this episode, they discuss whether we’re witnessing a DeFi renaissance, the challenges of building on Ethereum vs. Solana, and why DeFi adoption isn’t growing as fast as some expected. They debate stablecoins, whether Solana is truly innovating, and how AI could transform DeFi by automating governance and risk management.
They also respond to some hot takes—including whether Aave is falling behind Solana-based Kamino, and why Sky deployed its USDS stablecoin on Solana despite Rune’s long-standing Ethereum advocacy.
Show highlights:

02:33 Whether Sky and Aave are experiencing a “DeFi renaissance”

11:49 How Stani and Rune are trying to appeal to a simpler audience

23:00 Whether developers overlook how easy it is to build DeFi on Ethereum

27:40 Why Stani believes there is not a lot of innovation in Solana

32:17 What would need to happen for Aave to be in Solana

33:27 Why Sky deployed USDS on Solana

40:30 Whether the Ethereum ecosystem should be worried about users going to other chains

49:19 Why Rune praises Solana’s culture

51:38 How USDS’s growth on Base happens organically, contrary to Solana

59:35 Why they believe that the combination of AI and DeFi will be so powerful

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Guest:

Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave

Previous appearances on Unchained:

Stani Kulechov on Why Aave Is So Successful - Unchained

The Chopping Block w/ Stani Kulechov: Operation Chokepoint 2.0, Ethereum Innovation Push, & Polymarket Whales - Unchained

Rune Christensen, Co-founder of Sky

Previous appearances on Unchained:

Can Maker’s Rune Christensen Fix the Sad State of DAO Governance?

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 1: How to Keep a Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoin Afloat

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 2: How Dai Stayed at $1 While ETH Crashed From $1,400 to $85

The Chopping Block: How to Manage MakerDAO, With Hasu and Rune

Rune Christensen of MakerDao on Its $15 Million From Andreessen Horowitz

Why It’s so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable

Links

Aave 2030 roadmap

Alex Svanevik of Nansen tweeted: “When Aave on Solana?”

Qiao Wang of Alliance DAO commenting on why he recommends people build on Solana

The First Non-EVM Deployment of Aave Protocol: Aave V3 on Aptos - General - Aptos Forum

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