Opinion by: Vikram Arun, co-founder and CEO of Superform

DeFi already moves billions of dollars daily, lets anyone create new assets in minutes and rewards users with yields that banks can’t match. Using one app to find opportunities, another to bridge, a third to swap, a fourth to deposit and yet another to track your position — all while juggling wallets, chains and gas settings — doesn’t feel like a financial revolution. It’s more like a flight simulator where most pilots crash on the runway.

That complexity must disappear if crypto upgrades global finance and surpasses the earliest risk-takers. But the answer isn’t just another protocol. It’s a re-architecture of how DeFi is built and used. One that pairs ownerless, composable infrastructure with productized, intuitive interfaces.

This depends on two missing layers in today’s DeFi stack: the Hyperstructure and the Superapp. 

Hyperstructures are the internet back-end of money

The foundation of this new stack is what we call a hyperstructure. First theorized by Jacob Horne, hyperstructures are protocols that are free to use, valuable to govern and built to last. To support superapps, a hyperstructure must empower builders, as it rewards users and investors. It is permissionless and decentralized, with incentives to improve and add to the protocol. It is also free to use, but valuable to own and govern.

Hyperstructures can be created for all kinds of use cases, like trading platforms like Uniswap and Curve, and creator networks like Zora and Farcaster. These platforms began as protocols and are now evolving into ecosystems, offering the backbone for the next generation of applications, aka the superapp.Related: Stop making crypto complex

The most urgent frontier is building a hyperstructure for one of money’s most basic functions: growing itself. Historically, the ability to grow wealth, through savings, investing and yield, has been heavily permissioned and gatekept. Crypto made transferring money permissionless. With hyperstructures, we can make growing money permissionless, too.

DeFi’s rapid growth revealed a problem. In scaling yield, many projects adopted models that leaned heavily on centralized APIs, privileged roles and opaque offchain arrangements. The experience appealed to a narrow cohort of users with high risk tolerance and institutional connections. It contradicted the core principles that made crypto valuable in the first place.

Superapps support seamless UX on permissionless rails

That’s where the superapp comes in. It takes the fragmented chaos of DeFi and condenses it into a single, intuitive experience. For this to work, the earn layer needs dedicated infrastructure that expands access to yield while solving two key problems: discovery and execution.

Discovery automatically surfaces a comprehensive menu of earning opportunities with reliable onchain data so issuers don’t have to apply, promote themselves or rely on centralized listings. Execution compresses complex workflows into one atomic transaction, giving every user the same superpowers.

Doing so requires separating the fast-moving product layer from a slower, neutral base that is naturally far more resilient and secure with a lower cost of capital. Anyone can deploy, extend or fork the base without requesting permission. Yet, it must still be able to ship modern primitives that rival the convenience of today’s centralized platforms.

DeFi that feels like fintech

As the base layer standardizes, experience becomes the differentiator. Superapps turn raw infrastructure into products people want to use. You open the app and see familiar tools: “Cash Now,” “Savings,” “Highest Return.” Tap one, and the app automatically bridges, swaps and deposits, all behind the scenes. The best superapps will win on speed, strategy, support and design. The hyperstructure is the engine; users fall in love with the car.

Here’s the catch: If we optimize only for experience and neglect neutrality, DeFi risks becoming fintech in disguise. Centralized vaults. Opaque risk. Silent governance. That’s the danger. And that’s exactly what hyperstructures are meant to prevent. 

Some will argue that users don’t care about decentralization. Others will say good design justifies centralization. But crypto was never about short-term convenience; it was about long-term power. If we lose that, we lose the point.

In the 2000s, few imagined streaming 4K video across devices over a single protocol. Today, it’s second nature. The same will happen with money. People won’t ask whether they’re “using DeFi.” They’ll just be using money… on open, invisible, and unstoppable rails.

DeFi doesn’t scale as a patchwork of protocols. It scales as a new financial interface. Hyperstructures provide the foundation. Superapps deliver the experience. When they’re aligned, the result is more than just better apps. It’s a better system. 

Opinion by: Vikram Arun, co-founder and CEO of Superform.