if we do enter a high inflation high interest rate period, we will never see a strong risk on asset growth like we had for the past decades.

This is especially true for crypto, if a strong full risk on bull market is back in a decade, who's to say SOL will be even exist by that time?

At the end whether all these defi stuff requires a blockchain tech at all is questionable, take a look at DAG technology which is extremely scalable and gas free essentially. Projects are duplicatable and can be migrated easily.

Crypto is a hyper competitive market with extreme speculations, every chain fight for devs and liquidity. There's a reason why Bitcoin makes so much more sense to invest in, it has no competition, it can outlast governments, the community including here on stacker news make sure it can last.

btw, Chainlink does have a token, it's LINK. Horrible performance, but oracle is pretty much essential to all defi services.