According to Sergey Nazarov, founder of the oracle network Chainlink, the DeFi ecosystem could reach $1 trillion by next year. Decentralized finance refers to non-custodial protocols that manage the money on your behalf. DeFi projects such as AAVE, MakerDAO, and Uniswap have led the charge, mirroring wider developments in the cryptocurrency sector. The market's overall valuation reached $2 trillion last month, up from about $1 billion at this point last year.