NEAR co-founder Polosukhin argues centralized exchanges will become less necessary as onchain trading tools and tokenized stocks expand.
DeFi & Yields ·
NEAR co-founder Ilya Polosukhin has argued that the role of centralized exchanges will diminish as onchain trading infrastructure and tokenized assets mature. According to reporting, Polosukhin highlighted near.com as an example of platforms expanding direct onchain capabilities, including additional fiat-conversion features and plans to list tokenized stocks from multiple global markets.
The statement reflects a broader thesis about infrastructure consolidation: as blockchain-based trading tools improve and regulatory frameworks permit tokenized representations of traditional assets, the functional necessity of intermediate exchanges may decline. Polosukhin's comments situate NEAR as a layer positioning itself to capture activity that might otherwise route through centralized venues.
What remains unclear is the timeline for material adoption of these onchain alternatives, the specific markets from which tokenized stocks will be sourced, or how regulatory arbitrage between jurisdictions will shape the actual competitive outcome between onchain and traditional exchange models.