Thomas Daniels
Ethena Labs, the developer behind the synthetic dollar USDe, and financial technology firm Securitize, have jointly unveiled the preliminary roadmap for their forthcoming Converge network, a blockchain infrastructure designed to bridge real-world assets (RWA) and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.
The companies announced that Converge will enable both permissioned and permissionless projects to build upon its tokenized RWA-focused architecture. A testnet launch is anticipated in the coming weeks, with the full mainnet deployment slated for later in 2025.
Converge is engineered for high throughput, featuring an initial native block time of 100 milliseconds. Development plans aim to reduce block times to 50 milliseconds by the fourth quarter of 2025. Moreover, the network aspires to achieve a throughput capacity of at least one gigagas—processing billions of gas units per second—within the same year.
Ethena and Securitize’s initiative arrives amid a broader industry trend where the demarcation between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi continues to erode. The convergence of these sectors reflects growing institutional interest in blockchain applications, including stablecoins and tokenized bonds.
However, this integration has sparked divided opinions within the crypto community. While some stakeholders view institutional involvement as a natural progression, others have expressed concerns about potential centralization and regulatory capture.
In a January 21 interview with Bloomberg, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson emphasized the necessity of regulatory clarity to facilitate the blending of crypto assets with traditional financial systems. “We need to have some sort of regulatory clarity so that you could bring these together because, fundamentally, it will drive out costs, and there is great innovation that the technology enables,” Johnson stated.
Meanwhile, Shibtoshi, founder of SilentSwap—a privacy-centric trading platform—highlighted lingering institutional hesitancy. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Shibtoshi cited issues surrounding privacy, legal liabilities, and regulatory uncertainty as key obstacles to broader DeFi adoption. Nevertheless, he maintained that existing tools can mitigate these challenges.
“Institutions have realized the benefits of a securely decentralized system. As early as 2021, reports indicated that nearly one in three institutional investors in crypto were already engaging with DeFi,” Shibtoshi noted.
The launch of Converge by Ethena and Securitize marks a pivotal step in facilitating the institutional-grade infrastructure needed to accelerate the tokenization of real-world assets and broaden DeFi’s appeal to mainstream financial players.
