Source: Cointelegraph
Original: “Animoca Founder Yat Siu Says Student Loans Can Boost DeFi Growth”
Introducing student loans on-chain could increase the total locked value (TVL) of decentralized finance (DeFi) by more than four times, significantly boosting the industry, said Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands.
At the Consensus 2025 conference in Toronto, Siu pointed out that the global $3 trillion student loan market represents an untapped opportunity for the cryptocurrency industry. He stated that even transferring just 10% of this market on-chain could significantly promote the growth of DeFi.
"You could basically see the TVL of all DeFi grow by more than four times," he emphasized, indicating that the industry is still in its early stages.
Siu noted that Web3 financial tools targeting the education sector could drive mass adoption of cryptocurrency, especially among young people and the unbanked population.
"The first unbanked individuals are children," he said. "If students can obtain loans on-chain and repay them on-chain — in a regulated, higher quality, more efficient, and cost-effective way — they will be integrated into the cryptocurrency ecosystem for life."
Siu compared this scenario to how PayPal and Venmo achieved scale by providing basic services to underserved communities. He pointed out that student loans could become a key channel for cryptocurrency to enter the mainstream market.
The executive also highlighted Animoca Brands' recent investment strategy in Pencil Finance, a startup focused on providing crypto-native student loan services. Siu revealed that the project is currently operating in the Philippines and Indonesia, with plans to expand into the U.S. market.
On April 30, Pencil Finance announced the launch of a $10 million student loan financing program aimed at providing more affordable, blockchain-supported loan products.
Siu previously emphasized in an exclusive interview that the industry urgently needs these "positive use cases" to help the general public understand. He stated that if students can gain more development opportunities through crypto loans, they will naturally support cryptocurrency technology more.
At the Consensus conference, Siu explained to attendees the potential of education as a natural application scenario for Web3. He specifically mentioned applications like YouTube and TikTok, which are often seen as entertainment platforms, pointing out that they have actually become the world's largest informal learning platforms.
He emphasized that everything is closely related to education, and Web3 technology can also play an important role in this field. "Education is fundamentally essential; it is an activity we continuously engage in daily," Siu stated.
He suggested that by integrating financial infrastructure into the educational experience, Web3 technology has the potential to transform learning communities and reputation networks into capital assets, thereby building the infrastructure for a new decentralized financial ecosystem.
Related: Decentralized finance (DeFi) must return to its P2P origins to achieve mass adoption.
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