Flying Tulip founder Andre Cronje said decentralised finance has shifted away from its original model as protocols adopt operational controls and emergency safeguards.
Cronje argued many platforms now rely on upgradeable contracts, multisigs and offchain infrastructure, moving away from immutable code and towards structures resembling traditional financial systems.
“I think what we have today, Flying Tulip included, is no longer DeFi. It’s not decentralised finance. It’s not immutable code,”
Said Flying Tulip founder, Andre Cronje.
The comments come as Flying Tulip introduced a withdrawal circuit breaker to delay transactions during abnormal outflows following major exploits at Drift Protocol and Kelp, which together saw losses exceeding $500 million.
Cronje said the tool is designed to create a response window rather than block withdrawals, adding that modern DeFi security requires layered controls including audits, timelocks and distributed multisigs.
Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov warned such mechanisms could introduce new risks, arguing human-controlled safeguards may become attack vectors if compromised.
The debate reflects a broader shift in DeFi risk models, with recent incidents increasingly tied to offchain infrastructure and operational failures rather than smart contract bugs, while Standard Chartered said the sector’s response shows signs of maturing resilience.