Animoca’s Yat Siu: Student Loans Could Be Catalyst for Massive DeFi Growth

Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, believes the future of Web3 lies in education — and that student loans could be the next major catalyst for growth in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Speaking at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, Siu emphasized that the $3 trillion global student loan market is largely untapped by the crypto industry. He argued that even moving just 10% of student loans onchain could more than quadruple the total value locked (TVL) across all DeFi platforms.

“You basically more than quadruple TVL in all of DeFi,” Siu said, underlining that the DeFi sector is still in its infancy.

According to Siu, integrating blockchain-based financial tools into the education sector could be a game-changer for onboarding the next generation of crypto users. “The next big wave in Web3 is education,” he said, adding that students — many of whom are unbanked — represent a prime opportunity for mainstream adoption.

“The first unbanked are the kids,” Siu noted. “If a student receives a loan onchain and pays it back onchain — which is regulated, better, faster, cheaper — they become onboarded for crypto for life.”

Drawing parallels to how platforms like PayPal and Venmo gained mass appeal by serving underserved populations, Siu suggested that onchain student loans could perform a similar role for crypto, turning essential financial services into an entry point for the broader public.

Siu also highlighted Animoca Brands’ recent investment in Pencil Finance, a startup developing crypto-native student loan infrastructure. Operating in the Philippines and Indonesia, Pencil Finance recently launched a $10 million initiative to offer cheaper, blockchain-backed loans and is planning expansion into the US.

Beyond loans, Siu believes education itself is a natural use case for Web3. He pointed to YouTube and TikTok as examples of how digital platforms have transformed into massive informal learning networks, despite being dismissed initially as entertainment apps.

“Education is actually fundamental, something we do all the time,” Siu said. He argued that Web3 can create decentralized educational ecosystems, where learning communities and reputational networks evolve into valuable financial assets.

By embedding financial infrastructure directly into educational experiences, Siu envisions a future where students not only gain knowledge but also build economic identity and opportunity within a decentralized digital economy.