Nic Roberts-Huntley on DeFi’s Next Frontier: Institutional Yield, Crypto Vaults, and the Maturation of Digital Assets | Ep. 509

In this wide-ranging interview, Nic Roberts-Huntley, CEO and co-founder of Blueprint Finance, shares a rare perspective shaped by an unconventional journey from elite surgical practice to institutional finance and, ultimately, decentralised finance (DeFi).

Drawing on his experience at Oxford, Point72, and now the helm of a fast-growing DeFi infrastructure company, Roberts-Huntley explains why crypto is entering a more mature phase – one defined less by speculation and more by sustainable yield, risk management, and real institutional participation. He argues that as digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum have appreciated, the focus is shifting toward making those holdings productive without exposing owners to excessive downside risk.

Why Institutional Yield and Crypto Vaults Are DeFi’s Next Big Unlock

At the core of the conversation is the idea that institutional-grade yield generation is crypto’s next major unlock. Roberts-Huntley outlines how Blueprint’s protocols, Concrete on Ethereum and Glow on Solana, use automated, delta-neutral strategies and vault structures to deliver consistent, risk-adjusted returns, avoiding the headline-grabbing but often misleading APYs that have historically dominated DeFi. He explains why vaults, structured products, and on-chain credit are far more important to the future of decentralised finance than short-term yield farming, especially as regulatory clarity improves and institutions move from passive exposure to active on-chain participation.

The interview also explores broader market shifts, including the rise of Solana and layer-2 networks, accelerating M&A across crypto infrastructure, and why liquidity, not hype, will drive the next cycle. Roberts-Huntley offers a candid critique of speculative excess, a sober outlook on Bitcoin’s evolving price dynamics, and a forward-looking view on tokenised credit, insurance, and balance-sheet optimisation. The result is a compelling snapshot of how DeFi is growing up, and why the next wave of adoption is likely to come from CFOs and institutions, not retail traders chasing the latest narrative.