If there’s one cryptocurrency executive who has been particularly focused on bringing the entire global financial system on-chain from day one, it’s Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of decentralized oracle network Chainlink.
This feature is part of CoinDesk The Most Influential List of 2025.
Since the inception of Chainlink Labs in 2017, unlike the Chainlink protocol, Nazarov has continued to expand the scope of the network from “just an oracle for decentralized finance (DeFi)” to a broad set of tools designed to power nearly every corner of on-chain finance—from tokenization to cross-chain connectivity to enterprise-grade data infrastructure.
Nazarov told CoinDesk: “Chainlink has enabled over $27 trillion in on-chain transaction value, powering over 70% of DeFi and over 80% of top chains like Ethereum. But the real achievement is proving that advanced smart contracts can run reliably, at scale, and in production across many chains and real-world systems.”
Earlier this year, 37-year-old entrepreneur Nazarov defined 2025 as the “final stage” of blockchain adoption, arguing that governments, banks and asset managers are beginning to build the global financial system based on the “Chainlink standard”: a framework for secure data, interoperability and cross-chain settlement.
As the year comes to an end, his predictions seem less ambitious and closer to reality. In 2025, Chainlink is partnering with financial giants like Swift, DTCC, UBS, and even the U.S. government to move everything from macroeconomic data to real-world assets to the blockchain. Nazarov’s protocol becomes an important connecting layer between the world of digital assets and the world of traditional finance, bringing Chainlink closer to its “endgame.”
Next year, Nazarov expects greater adoption of the technology by traditional financial institutions. Nazarov said: “We are already about 30% complete in terms of global on-chain adoption. By 2026, I expect this number to increase significantly as institutions and DeFi finally operate in a unified environment.”
Unsurprisingly, Grayscale Research recently described Chainlink as a “vital infrastructure” for tokenized finance, noting that the protocol’s LINK, a token with a market cap of nearly $10 billion, provides investors with diversified exposure to the cryptocurrency infrastructure layer.
In 2023, CoinDesk described Nazarov as a man who could wear both a plaid shirt and a three-piece suit, a metaphor for his role as a bridge between two worlds. By 2025, as Chainlink solidifies its role as a key “conduit” for tokenized assets and cross-chain financial infrastructure, this symbolism feels even more pertinent as the two worlds merge.
Sergey Nazarov will speak at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2026 conference in Miami next May.
