All Assets, Everywhere with Philipp from LI.FI
The DCo PodcastFull Title
All Assets, Everywhere with Philipp from LI.FI
Summary
This episode discusses the evolving landscape of interoperability and Real World Assets (RWAs) in the crypto space, highlighting the fragmentation and complexity that LI.FI aims to address.
The discussion emphasizes LI.FI's role as a meta-aggregator building infrastructure for a fragmented future, enabling seamless asset movement across various chains and protocols.
Key Points
- Interoperability (Interop) is a fundamental necessity for any blockchain project today, not just a feature, as users and assets are inherently multi-chain.
- The emergence of Real World Assets (RWAs) being minted on multiple chains signifies a multi-chain paradigm as the current default, presenting both opportunities and challenges for liquidity and distribution.
- LI.FI addresses the increasing fragmentation of the blockchain ecosystem by acting as a meta-level aggregator, unifying liquidity and providing a robust infrastructure for complex cross-chain transactions.
- The platform has developed advanced solutions like a virtual machine for complex transaction building and an open solver marketplace to handle user intents efficiently.
- Traditional DeFi consolidation is being challenged by the rise of enterprise clients and RWAs, leading to new demand for specialized interoperability solutions.
- LI.FI believes that a B2B focus is more sustainable in the long term, emphasizing their B2B strategy as a core to their growth and success.
- The company's competitive advantage lies in its technical infrastructure, extensive data telemetry, strong brand recognition within the DeFi space, and network effects.
- LI.FI is actively evolving its offerings with new products like a checkout solution and an enhanced intent system, positioning itself to shape future blockchain standards and financial products.
Conclusion
Fragmentation in the blockchain space is a persistent and evolving challenge, requiring robust infrastructure to navigate.
LI.FI is strategically positioned as a meta-aggregator to provide this essential infrastructure, enabling seamless asset movement and complex transactions across a multi-chain world.
The company's focus on enterprise solutions, data telemetry, and continuous innovation with products like their virtual machine and intent system will be crucial for the future of DeFi and RWAs.
Discussion Topics
- How do you see the role of interoperability evolving as more real-world assets are tokenized and integrated into the crypto ecosystem?
- What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for companies like LI.FI in building the infrastructure for an increasingly fragmented blockchain future?
- Beyond technical solutions, what human elements (like founder well-being) are critical for navigating the volatile and demanding world of crypto startups?
Key Terms
- RWA
- Real World Assets; tangible or intangible assets like real estate, stocks, or bonds that are tokenized on a blockchain.
- Interop
- Interoperability; the ability of different blockchain networks and systems to communicate and exchange data with each other.
- OFTs
- Omni Fungible Tokens; a token standard that allows tokens to exist and move seamlessly across multiple blockchains.
- NTTs
- Native Token Transfers; a proposed standard for transferring tokens natively between different blockchain networks.
- ITS
- Interoperable Token Standard; a standard for creating tokens that can be used across multiple blockchain networks.
- CCTs
- Cross-Chain Transactions; transactions that involve multiple blockchain networks.
- Metamask
- A popular cryptocurrency wallet used to interact with decentralized applications (dApps) on various blockchains.
- DeFi
- Decentralized Finance; a broad term for financial services built on blockchain technology, aiming to offer traditional financial services without intermediaries.
- Gas costs
- Transaction fees paid in cryptocurrency on a blockchain network to compensate validators for processing transactions.
- DEX aggregator
- A platform that aggregates liquidity from multiple decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to find the best prices for users.
- AMMs
- Automated Market Makers; decentralized exchange protocols that rely on mathematical formulas to price assets rather than traditional order books.
- PMMs
- Price Manipulation Mechanisms; (in this context, likely referring to mechanisms that might be used to manipulate prices, though typically PMMs are a type of AMM).
- B2B
- Business-to-Business; transactions or services provided from one business to another.
- B2C
- Business-to-Consumer; transactions or services provided from a business directly to individual consumers.
- KYC
- Know Your Customer; a process of verifying the identity of clients.
- KYB
- Know Your Business; a process of verifying the identity and legitimacy of a business.
- Chain abstraction
- The concept of making it seamless for users to interact with blockchain applications without needing to know or manage the underlying blockchain network.
- Volatility
- The degree of variation of a trading price series over time, measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns.
- Composability
- The ability of different decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts to interact with and build upon each other.
- Telemetry
- The process of collecting and transmitting data remotely, used here to describe data collection for optimizing operations.
Timeline
Interoperability is presented as a given and a necessity for all blockchain projects today, not just a feature.
The minting of RWAs across multiple chains indicates that a multi-chain approach is the current default paradigm for asset issuance.
The challenge for RWAs lies not just in tokenization, but in achieving liquidity, distribution, and ultimately, demand, which is a difficult problem for institutions to solve.
LI.FI has built a multi-chain transaction rail, a set of smart contracts that enables combining multiple transactions like swap and bridge into a single, gas-efficient transaction.
LI.FI developed a virtual machine that expresses a domain-specific language in TypeScript, allowing for the creation of complex, multi-chain user journeys and generating executable call data.
LI.FI has partnered with an open solver marketplace, an intent system that organizes requests across a network of solvers, enabling third-party liquidity and market-making.
LI.FI differentiates itself from pure aggregators by acting as a meta-level aggregator that unifies liquidity and aggregates existing aggregators, providing a comprehensive solution.
Bridge aggregation is a complex problem due to varying chain representations, asset mappings, bridging times, costs, and security assumptions, requiring smart, qualitative routing.
LI.FI's capabilities allow them to land on chains day one themselves, reducing dependence on third-party bridges for expansion efforts and catering to clients' demands for new L2s.
LI.FI has become proficient in foreseeing market shifts and handling complex infrastructure challenges by leveraging extensive data telemetry and proactive monitoring.
The company uses AI to process and integrate data, making it open and adaptable to existing interfaces, thereby increasing efficiency and speed to market.
LI.FI adopted a microservice architecture to enhance scalability and allow for isolated code, enabling AI to operate with reduced scope and context for better understanding and interface integration.
From day one, LI.FI's strategy was to focus on the B2B space, recognizing it as the more sustainable and impactful market.
LI.FI leverages network effects through its intent system and by supporting multiple integration solutions, enhancing its position in the market.
LI.FI waited patiently for the right time to address the "intent" narrative and acquire Catalyst, recognizing the strategic importance of a robust intent execution system.
LI.FI's direct competition has faded, with a "frenemy" situation now existing with entities they aggregate, highlighting the dominance of aggregation strategies.
Fragmentation is expected to persist for at least another decade, with new rails like compliant and privacy rails emerging, necessitating DeFi's role in aggregating these diverse systems.
Tokenization is seen as the successor to digitization, bringing significant value chains on-chain, which will require standardization and will lead to new financial products.
LI.FI is described as a "Google Maps with a ticketing facility" for asset movements, providing price comparison and end-to-end transaction execution.
The immediate problems LI.FI aims to solve are helping RWAs find distribution and addressing the exponential fragmentation in the crypto space.
Founders are advised to manage stress through physical well-being (nutrition, exercise, sleep) and mental well-being (therapy, coaching, journaling).
LI.FI is launching a checkout product that acts as a conversion tool, aiming to rethink chain abstraction, and has also launched its intent system for solvers and distribution needs.
Composer, LI.FI's multi-chain composability tool, will enable seamless and fluid navigation of the complex blockchain environment.
LI.FI's clients consistently report that there is no other solution at the enterprise scale that matches LI.FI's capabilities.
Episode Details
- Podcast
- The DCo Podcast
- Episode
- All Assets, Everywhere with Philipp from LI.FI
- Official Link
- https://www.decentralised.co/podcast
- Published
- February 10, 2026