Decentralized finance has spent years arguing it doesn’t need a rulebook. Now one of its better-known projects is hosting a forum in Washington, DC, built around a simple question: who actually gets to write one?
1inch, the DeFi ecosystem and decentralized exchange aggregator, is set to co-host Groundwork, a one-day forum on October 16, 2026, at the National Union Building. The event runs as part of DC Fintech Week and is organized in partnership with the Blockchain Association.
What’s on the agenda
Groundwork is designed to put four groups in conversation: students, policymakers, professors and the people building DeFi protocols.
The program is planned to include seven panels and six roundtables, plus student-moderated sessions. Students are expected to run some of the conversations, not just sit in the back row taking notes.
Planned topics include how DeFi has evolved, smart contract security and career paths in the sector.
The speaker list leans heavily on industry and academia. Orest Gavryliak, Chief Legal Officer of 1inch, is among the scheduled speakers.
Representatives from Uniswap, Circle and Robinhood Crypto are also slated to appear. Faculty from Columbia, NYU, Rutgers and George Mason round out the academic side.
For students, there’s a practical sweetener. Travel sponsorship is available for a limited number of student attendees, which removes at least one barrier for anyone not already living near the Beltway.
The 1inch Forward backstory
Groundwork didn’t appear out of nowhere. It extends 1inch Forward, an initiative the company launched earlier in 2026 to push US business and law schools to teach digital assets and blockchain.
On March 18, 2026, the initiative surfaced through an open letter signed by over 20 DeFi projects and advocacy organizations. The letter urged law and business schools to update their curricula to reflect digital assets and on-chain finance.
1inch has also been running its own education programs. The company relaunched its DeFi Academy in June 2026, offering resources meant to help aspiring professionals understand core DeFi concepts.
For context on the host: a DEX aggregator works a bit like a flight search engine. Instead of checking one airline, it scans many decentralized exchanges and routes a trade to wherever the price looks best.
Why Washington, and why now
Location matters here. Hosting the forum in DC, during a fintech week that draws policy crowds, signals that the organizers want this conversation to happen near the people who draft and enforce financial rules.
The organizers’ stated aim is to connect younger participants with current policymakers while regulatory debates over digital assets and DeFi are becoming more relevant.
The Blockchain Association’s involvement reinforces the policy angle. It is one of the industry’s established advocacy voices in Washington, and pairing it with a protocol like 1inch blends lobbying muscle with builder credibility.
What this means for DeFi
There is an obvious tension worth watching. When an industry funds the education of the people who may one day oversee it, critics will reasonably ask how balanced that education is. The presence of faculty from Columbia, NYU, Rutgers and George Mason may help on that front, but the curriculum push is still industry-led.
Watch whether any participating universities announce new courses or programs tied to digital assets after October. Watch whether the 20-plus signatories of the March letter expand their education commitments.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.