Animoca’s Yat Siu says student loans can supercharge DeFi growth

“The next big wave in Web3 is education,” said Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, on stage at Consensus Toronto.

Bringing student loans onchain would increase the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) by more than four times, supercharging the industry, according to Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands.

Speaking at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, Siu pointed to the $3 trillion global student loan market as an untapped opportunity for the crypto industry. He said moving even 10% of that market onchain could significantly boost DeFi’s growth.

“You basically more than quadruple TVL in all of DeFi,” he said, underscoring how the industry is still in its early stages. 

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