Beyond Crypto: Three Stocks Offering Exposure to the DeFi Revolution

Decentralised finance (DeFi) has spent much of the past decade caught between two competing narratives. 

To its supporters, it represents the future of financial services, replacing traditional intermediaries with blockchain-based systems that enable lending, trading and asset ownership without banks. To its critics, it remains little more than a speculative corner of crypto markets.

However, the sector may be entering a new phase. 

Ethereum [ETH], the blockchain at the heart of much of the DeFi ecosystem, outperformed bitcoin [BTC] in July. 

ETH climbed 19% during the month, data from CryptoSlate showed, comfortably outpacing BTC’s 8% gain as stronger inflows into investment products and rising corporate treasury demand fuelled the rally. The ETH/BTC ratio briefly climbed above 0.03 for the first time in three months, suggesting capital may be rotating back into ETH after an extended period of underperformance.

While cryptocurrency prices alone do not determine DeFi growth, ETH’s renewed momentum highlights growing interest in the infrastructure underpinning decentralised applications.

The next stage of DeFi may look very different from its early years. Rather than retail investors chasing speculative yields, the opportunity could come from the integration of blockchain technology into mainstream finance. Tokenised assets, blockchain-based settlement and digital payments are increasingly attracting attention from banks, asset managers and fintech companies.

For investors, gaining exposure to this trend does not necessarily mean buying cryptocurrencies directly. A growing number of publicly traded companies are building businesses around the broader DeFi ecosystem, offering exposure to institutional adoption, retail participation and blockchain infrastructure.

This article examines three stocks positioned across different parts of the DeFi landscape: Galaxy Digital [GLXY] as an institutional gateway to digital assets, Robinhood Markets [HOOD] as a route to mainstream consumer adoption and DeFi Technologies [DEFT] as a more direct play on the growth of decentralised financial markets.

Galaxy Digital: The institutional gateway 

While early DeFi adoption was driven largely by crypto-native users, the next phase of growth could come from institutional capital entering blockchain-based markets. Galaxy Digital is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi.

Recent moves suggest Galaxy is targeting the infrastructure layer of the digital asset economy. In July, the company launched its Institutional Vault Curator, an offering designed to give institutions access to curated on-chain yield strategies built on Morpho and distributed through Fireblocks Earn. It also introduced GOFR, an institutional on-chain financing programme that allows clients to access DeFi lending markets through Galaxy rather than interacting directly with protocols.

Galaxy has also expanded beyond traditional crypto services. The company completed the first phase of its Helios data centre campus in Texas, delivering 133MW of critical IT capacity to CoreWeave [CRWV] under a long-term lease agreement. The move highlights Galaxy’s broader ambitions across digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) computing.

For investors seeking DeFi exposure, Galaxy represents a bet that blockchain-based finance will increasingly converge with traditional markets. Rather than relying solely on retail crypto speculation, the company is building the rails that could support institutional adoption of tokenised assets, on-chain lending and decentralised financial services. The key risk is that Galaxy remains exposed to crypto market cycles, with sentiment and earnings still influenced by digital asset prices.

Galaxy reports Q2 earnings on 5 August. 

Robinhood: The retail investor option

While Galaxy represents the institutional side of DeFi, Robinhood offers a different route to DeFi exposure: mainstream adoption. The company’s long-term opportunity is built around making blockchain-based financial products accessible to millions of retail investors who may never interact directly with DeFi protocols.

Robinhood has accelerated its push into blockchain infrastructure in 2026, launching Robinhood Chain, an ethereum Layer 2 network designed to support tokenised assets and decentralised financial products. The company has also expanded its crypto offering with stock tokens, staking and new DeFi products, aiming to connect traditional markets with on-chain infrastructure.

The strategy is a natural extension of Robinhood’s existing business model. The company built its user base by simplifying access to equities, options and crypto trading; its DeFi ambition is to do the same for blockchain-based finance. If DeFi goes mainstream, Robinhood could become one of the key distribution platforms.

Recent earnings highlight both the opportunity and the challenge. On 29 July Robinhood delivered strong Q2 results, with transaction-based revenue climbing 44% year-on-year, although crypto revenue declined 38% as digital asset trading activity weakened.

For investors, Robinhood is a bet that DeFi’s next wave will be driven by user adoption rather than crypto-native speculation. The risk is that blockchain products remain a niche offering, leaving the company reliant on its existing brokerage business.

DeFi Technologies: The pure-play bet 

While Galaxy Digital and Robinhood provide indirect exposure to DeFi through institutional and retail channels, DeFi Technologies offers a more focused way to invest in the growth of decentralised financial markets. The company aims to bridge traditional capital markets and digital assets through exchange-traded products, venture investments and infrastructure businesses built around blockchain networks.

A key part of the investment case is Valour, DeFi Technologies’ digital asset ETP subsidiary. Valour provides investors with regulated access to cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based assets through exchange-traded products, allowing institutions and retail investors to gain exposure without directly managing digital wallets or interacting with decentralised protocols. In 2026, Valour continued expanding its product range across European markets, adding new crypto investment products and increasing assets under management. 

The company has also been building exposure beyond passive crypto products. Through its venture arm, DeFi Ventures, it invests in early-stage blockchain companies, while its CoreFi Strategy focuses on generating returns from decentralised finance activities. 

For investors seeking direct exposure to the DeFi ecosystem, DeFi Technologies offers one of the closest listed proxies. However, that focus comes with higher risk. Unlike diversified financial platforms such as Galaxy or Robinhood, DeFi Technologies remains closely tied to crypto market sentiment, regulatory developments and the adoption of decentralised applications.

The bull case is that DeFi evolves into a meaningful component of global finance, creating demand for regulated access products and blockchain infrastructure. The bear case is that institutional adoption develops more slowly than expected, leaving the company exposed to crypto cycles.

DeFi Technologies reports Q2 earnings on 13 August.

Conclusion: The investment case for GLXY, HOOD and DEFT

This is how the three stocks currently line up in terms of their respective fundamentals; of course, it is far from a like-for-like comparison, given the very different nature of their businesses. 

Source: Yahoo Finance

DeFi remains a high-growth, high-risk corner of financial technology, but the investment case is becoming broader than cryptocurrency speculation. Galaxy Digital, Robinhood and DeFi Technologies each offer exposure to a different part of the ecosystem, with distinct risk-reward profiles.

Galaxy is arguably the strongest institutional play, targeting the convergence between traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure. Robinhood offers a more consumer-focused route, betting that tokenised assets and decentralised finance products will eventually reach millions of retail investors. DeFi Technologies provides the purest exposure to the sector’s growth, but also carries the greatest sensitivity to crypto cycles and regulatory shifts.

For investors seeking a diversified approach, Galaxy offers infrastructure exposure, Robinhood provides mainstream adoption potential and DeFi Technologies represents a higher-risk bet on DeFi’s long-term success. The common thread is that all three are betting blockchain technology becomes a more important part of global finance. The question is how long that will take.