DeFi blogpost

DeFi

DeFi (decentralized finance) is transforming the traditional financial industry by enabling anyone with an internet connection to access financial services, regardless of location or credit history.

DeFi operates on decentralized, blockchain-based platforms, allowing financial services to be: accessible, transparent, and secure.

This decentralizedfinancial landscape is enabling people:

to take control of their assets,
receive fair and equal access to financial opportunities,
to participate in the global economy.

DeFi is revolutionizing finance by effectively creating a new financial system. Decentralized currency has come to the Internet, and these virtual coins and tokens are programmable.

Furthermore, this field (DeFi) is changing rapidly. It is imperative that participants of DeFi technology do research. It may be prudent to always be on the look-out for possible scams.

The activities are captured and broadcast by a host of firms that do DeFi Analytics.

The DeFi market in growing as blockchain developers write smart contracts.

In summary, DeFi is making headway because it is:

descentralized,
permissionless,
trustless (reliably honest via design of code),
transparent,
censorship-resistant, and
programmable.

DeFi Has Many Facets

payments
DEXs
lending & borrowing
stablecoins (pegged currencies)
staking (savings)
margin trading
derivatives
infrastructure & dev tooling
insurance
KYC & identity
marketplaces
prediction markets
tokenization of assets
asset management tools
DeFi Analytics

Miscellaneous DeFi Links

news: defi pulse

blog: defiprime.com blog

Stablecoin Stats

medium.com: Decentralized Lending: An Overview

DeFiPie

CoinGecko DeFi

Top Ethereum DeFi Apps

Zapper.xyz provides an enhanced UI to uniswap and other DeFi protocols.

PoolTogether

Sablier real-time finance protocol

Earn interest, borrow assets, and build applications: AAVE Liquidity Protocol

masternodes.online

masternode.buzz

CoinMarketCap maintains a list: Top DeFi Tokens by Market Capitalization

Synthetix Exchange is a protocol for trading synthetic assets on Ethereum

yearn.finance: earn, zap, APR, vaults

blog.syntetix.io

"The 100+ Projects Pioneering Decentralized Finance – 2020" (categorized list)

milkroad

"10 Most Important Companies to Know in DeFi" from Coinspeaker

Smart contract development used to interact with DeFi protocols

For example, role play the use of a smart contract that connects with Compound. Go. Deposit DAI and earn say 4% interest paid in DAI. Also bonus COMP tokens as incentive. Then go to Uniswap and swap your COMP to another cryptocurrency. Also borrow currency and earn COMP tokens (which means you can pull q percent of the tokens out). If that works, add leverage by taking out a flash loan. Consider how the interest rates differ. Remember, it may be prudent to start small when learning how.

Important DeFi Issues

Here are important DeFi issues:

Regulatory Uncertainty: The lack of clear regulations and guidelines surrounding DeFi creates uncertainty for its operation and raises concerns about legal compliance and potential risks for participants. See: regulation watch
Smart Contract Security: DeFi relies on smart contracts, which can be vulnerable to coding errors, bugs, or malicious attacks, potentially resulting in the loss or theft of funds.
Scalability: The increasing popularity of DeFi has led to network congestion, high transaction fees, and slower transaction times, hindering its scalability and usability.
Interoperability: The lack of seamless integration and compatibility between different DeFi protocols and networks creates fragmentation and inefficiencies within ecosystems.
User Experience: DeFi platforms often have complex interfaces and require technical knowledge, limiting the accessibility and user-friendliness for individuals unfamiliar with blockchain technology, thus hindering broader adoption. [See also: Institutional DeFi.]