David Schwartz, the CTO Emeritus of Ripple, who helped develop the XRP Ledger (XRPL) from scratch, has teased some big changes coming to the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, as it appears that a retail-friendly breakthrough is just around the corner.
David is excited about what retail DeFi is going to look like in 2027 and we're "really close" to finding out. 1) I believe retail DeFi on the XRP Ledger will be very exciting in 2027. We have a lot of tailwind building up. It's the year institutions and retail meet on the DEX. This will be no doubt the most interesting catalyst not many have on their radar imo. 2) Ripple's acquisition and customers coming on chain is a flip of the switch moment. We have heard from Monica in Korea about goals to drive more Ripple customer activity on the XRP Ledger. Think of the groundwork done so far with crucial XRPL amendments for on chain compliance (PDEX/PDomain) and soon privacy, as well stablecoin issuers and regulated trading venues. Great interview Tony, as per usual :)
— Vet (@Vet_X0) October 18, 2026
During his recent interview, Schwartz expressed his optimism regarding DeFi's future in 2027.
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"But generally, in the industry, tokenization is really kicking off, and the regulatory hurdles are really starting to fall," noted Schwartz.
The Ripple veteran then also talked about how a whole new market can be formed around blockchain finance applications.
"What does the, like, blockchain user, like, look like? What is the product that…" Schwartz asked, noting that the potential formation of the market was akin to the enormous user base that app developers have for Android or iOS.
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"That's the world that's gonna be super exciting. And we're really close," he emphasized.
Schwartz appeared to imply that the next chapter in blockchain adoption could potentially bring decentralized finance products to the general masses and not just crypto enthusiasts.
However, he refrained from mentioning any product or announcing any definitive date.
AI agents could reshape DeFi
During the conversation, Schwartz also touched upon his idea of using AI agents for handling finance-related work for the general masses.
"And so you can imagine the world where, like, everyone's money is managed by agents. Which solves all those problems for them," he said.
The Ripple veteran then went on to wonder how DeFi would adapt to this change.
"What are you going to want from DeFi in that world? I think that's the problem that we're coming up with," noted Schwartz.