Successful or not, if some government authorities like SEC gets their hands on DEFI then definitely, it will be the end. It is supposedly "Decentralised", so if there are regulations and if governments are going to be involved, I would say that investors are going to stay away from it, specially of SEC are going to file cases after cases on the project itself, then it will simply lost it's luster from investors.
Agree. Based on previous events, the SEC does more harm to the crypto/Blockchain industry than good. Fierce government regulations will only scare off investors from the market. Consider what happened to the ICO industry once governments started to crack down on them. It's virtually non-existent, as everything shifted to STOs (Security Token Offerings) and IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings) which enforce KYC/AML measures. If the trend continues, "De-Fi" platforms may be required to collect personally identifiable information for the government's own benefit. Smart contracts may be decentralized, but websites hosting them are not. A "De-Fi" platform creator could simply create a website that won't allow people to perform any actions unless their identity is validated. Only those who are tech-savvy enough and knowledgeable about crypto/Blockchain tech, will bypass this by interacting with the smart contract directly on the Blockchain.
Nonetheless, it's evident that every hype cycle brings massive regulations from mainstream governments. After all, they want a "piece of the pie". Their excuse is to prevent scams, abuse, and money laundering. But we all know governments' hidden intentions. They'd want to stay in control over people's money no matter what. And "De-Fi" goes against this since it's "banking for the unbanked". Ultimately, people will decide whenever they'd want to continue supporting "De-Fi" platforms or get out of them ASAP due to heavy-handed regulations imposed by the government. Let's hope all goes well for the sake of "De-Fi"'s growth in the mainstream world. Just my opinion