Denelle Dixon, the CEO of Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), emphasizes the importance of enabling financial assets to flow effortlessly between traditional financial systems and blockchain networks. In an interview with Cointelegraph during Paris Blockchain Week, Dixon underscored the pivotal role of interoperability in driving mainstream adoption of blockchain protocols.

Dixon, a former trial lawyer with experience at Yahoo and Mozilla, credited Stellar founder Jed McCaleb for drawing her into the realm of layer-1 protocols. She highlighted Stellar's focus on tokenization and its ability to facilitate fast, low-fee payments as key factors that attracted her to the decentralized protocol.

For Dixon, the goal is to make money transfer as seamless as email, bridging the gap between on-chain and off-chain infrastructures. She emphasized the importance of tokenization on Stellar and its integration with fiat payment gateways in providing utility to users.

Drawing from her background at Mozilla, Dixon stressed the need for interoperability among blockchain protocols. She envisions creating an interoperability layer across chains to benefit the entire blockchain ecosystem, not just Stellar.

However, Dixon lamented the tribalism within the blockchain community, noting that it detracts from advancing the utility of blockchain infrastructure. Recent network outages and congestion issues across major protocols have raised concerns and may deter potential users from entering the space.

Despite this tribalism, Dixon highlighted the collaboration and support among blockchain executives at a higher level. She emphasized the belief that the industry is not a winner-takes-all market, drawing parallels to the pitfalls of monopolies in the content side of the internet.

Looking ahead, Dixon emphasized the importance of utility as a core focus for blockchain and cryptocurrency proponents. The recent launch of smart contracts on the Stellar network through the Soroban platform aims to create opportunities for developers and drive network growth.

In conclusion, Dixon advocates for a rational approach to blockchain development, emphasizing collaboration, interoperability, and utility as key drivers of success in the evolving blockchain ecosystem.