DWF Labs Puts Up to $75M Toward New DeFi Projects Aimed at Wider Institutional Use

Crypto market maker and Web3 investment group DWF Labs said on Wednesday that it plans to direct as much as $75 million toward DeFi projects built for large players entering the crypto space. The message was posted on X, where the firm said it will look at teams building systems that can grow to handle high trading volume and long-term demand.

According to the announcement, the program will look at projects working on dark-pool perpetual DEXs, decentralized money markets, and products tied to steady on-chain returns. DWF Labs said these areas are gaining traction as more crypto activity moves to open networks.

Managing partner Andrei Grachev said the aim is to support teams building DeFi systems that focus on clear, real-world use cases for institutions. He noted that DeFi is moving into a phase where larger players want tools that can handle scale, protect order flow, and support steady on-chain yields.

The fund will consider projects on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, and Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network backed by Coinbase. Along with financial support, the firm said it will help teams gain access to trading partners, exchanges, infrastructure groups, and other firms active in the crypto sector. It will also assist with go-to-market planning and help boost project TVL and liquidity where needed.

Growing activity in the DeFi sector

Data from DefiLlama shows that DeFi protocols currently hold more than $120 billion in total value locked. The sector reached its high point during the “DeFi Summer” of 2021, when TVL neared $175 billion. It moved close to that level again last month, touching around $166 billion before the Oct. 10 market pullback.

Although DeFi began as a niche corner of crypto aimed at users seeking open and trust-minimized financial tools, many analysts now expect larger financial companies to play a major role in its next wave of growth. These firms are waiting for clearer rules and better on-chain systems before moving in at scale.

Institutional adoption outlook

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov spoke about the sector’s progress in a conversation with MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe, posted on YouTube on Tuesday. 

Nazarov said he believes DeFi is roughly one-third of the way toward broad adoption and estimated that the halfway point could arrive once regulators set out clear rules. 

He added that the next stage would come when on-chain tools and networks become simple enough for major firms to place larger amounts of capital into the ecosystem.