Here is what has been occupying me lately: if you correctly calculate all the capital investments needed by humanity for the transition to renewable energy, robotics, space exploration, and all other future infrastructure, it amounts to about 100–200 trillion dollars. This is fifteen times more than all the assets managed by the ten largest banks in the world combined.

Why is this important for DeFi? Because this money needs to come from somewhere. And here, DeFi can play a completely different role than it does now. Currently, protocols like Aave handle the allocation of capital from the supply side well — liquidity easily flows to where the returns are higher. But a real leap will happen when we learn to finance real infrastructure through blockchain.

Let’s break it down by categories. Solar energy alone will require 15–30 trillion in capital investments. This is simply a huge market that will replace fossil fuels by 2050. Meanwhile, there’s a race for computing power — GPU centers and data centers will require 15–35 trillion depending on how quickly AI is adopted. McKinsey forecasts that by 2030, an investment of 6.7 trillion will be needed.

Robotics is a separate story. Automation of physical labor will be a defining feature of the coming decades. By 2050, robots could require 8–35 trillion. Electrification of transportation — cars, trains, airplanes, charging networks — will need another 10–25 trillion. Add space infrastructure — satellite constellations, launch systems, orbital logistics hubs — this could be 2–6 trillion in a conservative scenario, but if launch costs drop by 10–50 times, the figure could grow to 50 trillion.

There’s also water desalination, extraction of rare metals, carbon capture, nuclear energy. Each sector is worth trillions.

Now the main question: how can DeFi finance this? I see two main paths. The first — income-generating stablecoins. Ethena demonstrated how this works: distributing off-chain income to on-chain users. Aave becomes a cyclical machine: if the yield from infrastructural assets exceeds the cost of capital — around 4–5% — you can borrow liquidity against these stablecoins and reinvest. Annual returns could be 10–15%.

The second path — direct marginalization through tokenized infrastructure. Income remains off-chain, but through collateral and demand for loans, it generates returns for depositors. This approach is better suited for assets with volatile values.

Regarding the actual returns: solar energy offers a 10% internal rate of return, batteries — 12%, data centers — 13%, space — about 18%. The higher the technological risk, the higher the potential yield. And yes, there are obstacles — sometimes even a 529 error when trying to access a platform can scare off newcomers, but this is solvable as infrastructure develops.

I believe the right strategy for Aave is to start with low-risk assets — like solar energy — and then gradually expand into riskier assets through risk management systems. Most RWA tokenizations now focus on treasury bills and money market funds — assets that already have deep liquidity. But the real opportunity lies in financing the infrastructure of the future, not the past.

If Aave integrates with fintech companies and traditional banks, it could accelerate the transition to a world of abundance by 10–15 years. This could be a trillion-dollar market for Aave and its partners.