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The 
Ethereum Foundation just published an announcement outlining its new approach to DeFi, including the introduction of dedicated DeFi leads and ecosystem priorities for 2026.
What's the Scoop?
- New DeFi champions. The EF has named Charles St. Louis (formerly of DELV) and ivangbi (cofounder of
Gearbox Protocol) as its DeFi leads within its App Relations team. Charles will serve as DeFi Protocol Specialist, while Ivan serves as DeFi Coordinator. - Defipunk as north star. Broadly, the EF will be focusing its efforts on supporting finance projects "that couldn't exist without Ethereum," namely projects that are open source, secure, permissionless, private, and self-custodial.
- Priority areas for this year. In its announcement, the Foundation also scoped out six specific tracks it will be doubling down on in DeFi over the near term: builder relationships, security, decentralization and openness, privacy, standards and risk clarity, and research and content.
Bankless Take:
Institutional stablecoins are multiplying, TradFi giants are diving deeper into crypto, and the U.S. regulatory environment is increasingly approaching DeFi. Accordingly, the EF is planting a flag with these appointments, signaling to all that Ethereum shouldn't drive toward a TradFi-lite status quo just because the suits have arrived.
For DeFi builders who've felt the EF didn't care enough about the app layer, take comfort, as the cavalry has finally arrived.
