Umbrella term for a variety of applications and projects in the public blockchain space geared toward disrupting the traditional finance world. Inspired by blockchain technology, DeFi is referred to as financial applications built on blockchain technologies.
What is decentralized finance (DeFi)?
Cryptocurrencies have exploded into a trillion-dollar industry today, sparking a wave of worldwide financial disruption.
At the heart of cryptocurrencies is a remarkable history of innovation that goes back to the 1980s, with advancements in cryptography. Since then, a series of events have shaped crypto space; the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, being the most prominent. Despite its spectacular growth in the past 12 years, financial services have very slowly appeared for Bitcoin — mostly due to its inherent lack of stability and adoption. Mainstream institutions won’t accept a Bitcoin loan because of its significant price volatility — it makes Bitcoin a poor asset to plan any investment accurately.
Things change quickly in the crypto space, and decentralized finance (DeFi) is a current trend — it's an exciting space to be, undoubtedly. If you're still unaware, let’s dig a little deeper into DeFi and learn more about it.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) explained
Short for decentralized finance, DeFi is an umbrella term for a variety of applications and projects in the public blockchain space geared toward disrupting the traditional finance world. Inspired by blockchain technology, DeFi is referred to as financial applications built on blockchain technologies, typically using smart contracts. Smart contracts are automated enforceable agreements that do not need intermediaries to execute and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.
DeFi consists of applications and peer-to-peer protocols developed on decentralized blockchain networks that require no access rights for easy lending, borrowing, or trading of financial tools. Most DeFi applications today are built using the Ethereum network, but many alternative public networks are emerging that deliver superior speed, scalability, security, and lower costs.
Why smart contracts?
Most smart contracts offer Turing Complete programming languages that allow multiple parties to interact with each other, without needing a centralized intermediary. Blockchain’s ability to capitalize on smart contracts has made them ideal platforms to choose when building out financial applications.
How did DeFi get its start?
Humans bartered initially for goods and services. But, as humans evolved, economies evolved: We invented currency to make it easier to exchange goods and services. Subsequently, coins helped usher in innovations and created better levels of economies. However, progress comes at a cost.
Historically, central authorities have issued currencies that underpin our economies, which eventually gave them more power as more people began to trust them. However, trust has been broken from time to time, which makes people question the centralized authorities' ability to manage said money. DeFi was developed based on the idea of creating a financial system that is open to everyone and minimizes the need to trust and rely on a central authority.
It’s argued that DeFi started in 2009 with the launch of Bitcoin, which was the first p2p digital money built on top of the blockchain network. Through Bitcoin, the idea of ushering transformation in to the traditional financial world using blockchains became an essential next step in the decentralization of legacy financial systems. The launch of Ethereum and, more specifically, smart contracts, in 2015 made it all possible. The Ethereum network is a 2nd generation blockchain that first maximized the potential of this technology within the financial industry. It encouraged businesses and enterprises to build and deploy projects that formed the ecosystem of DeFi.