Decentralized finance has been touted as a possible solution to lowering the barrier of entry for those who struggled to access bank accounts. And more recently, it's being utilized by cryptocurrency owners for another purpose: to make more money.

But isn’t all of crypto decentralized finance, anyway? Sort of. The DeFi movement refers to a specific genre of financial product that champions decentralization above all else, and uses lucrative incentive mechanisms to encourage investors to play along.

What is DeFi?

DeFi apps are financial products that run on a public blockchain, such as Ethereum. These products are permissionless, meaning they don't use third parties. Instead of financial intermediaries, such as brokers and banks, everything is automated into the protocol via smart contracts.

Want to take out a loan? You can get a loan directly from your peers rather than a bank. Ready to bet on Bitcoin futures and other derivatives? Forget finding a bookie. You can let the protocol handle it. Looking to swap one asset for another? Decentralized exchanges can facilitate the transaction without taking a huge cut.

Who invented DeFi?

There is no single inventor of DeFi, but DeFi applications first appeared on top of Ethereum, which was invented by Vitalik Buterin. They have since expanded to other networks that use smart contracts to automate transactions. These include Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and Avalanche.

What’s so special about it?

DeFi has several key features.

First, it's "open," meaning you can use the applications by creating a wallet—often without displaying any identifying information, such as name and address. That's theoretically (if not technologically) simpler than having a bank account.

Second, you can move funds around near-instantaneously via a blockchain, so no waiting for the bank transfer to clear.

Third, DeFi applications work together like “money Legos." This "composability" allows anyone to create, modify, mix and match, link, or build on top of any existing DeFi product without permission. Unfortunately, this feature may also be DeFi’s biggest weakness, because if a key component, such as the DAI stablecoin, becomes vulnerable or corrupted, the whole ecosystem built around DAI may come crashing down.

What can you do with DeFi?

There are three basic types of DeFi applications.

💰 Lending/borrowing: If you own cryptocurrency, you can lend it to a protocol such as Aave or Compound in exchange for interest and/or rewards. Likewise, you can borrow digital assets from such a protocol, which is particularly useful if you want to make a trade. Be careful, though! Most DeFi protocols use over-collateralization, meaning you must put up more than the amount you want to borrow; if the asset's value falls too much, the protocol may take your collateral to avoid losses.

Many DeFi users utilize this as a way to earn assets through "yield farming," in which they lock up funds in a pool of assets to get rewards. Since rates vary depending on protocol and asset, skilled yield farmers move their assets to capitalize on the best rates.

💱 Trading: With centralized exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance, you're relying on the exchange to take custody of your assets with each trade. Decentralized exchanges remove the intermediary so people can trade directly with one another. Moreover, DEXes such as Uniswap and PancakeSwap allow people to list new tokens for trading. The lack of vetting increases the risks, but it also allows people to "get in early" on new assets before they hit wider markets.

💸 Derivatives: Sometimes you don't want to be limited to trading particular coins or tokens. Derivatives platforms such as dYdX and Synthetix allow people to do more than spot trading. For example, users can make leveraged trades in which they bet more than they have, or even create "synthetic assets" that mimic traditional stocks and commodities.

How do you use DeFi products?

Anyone can use DeFi products by going to an application’s website and connecting with a DeFi-enabled crypto wallet, such as MetaMask on Ethereum or Phantom on Solana. Most DeFi dapps do not require users to give up any personal information or register.

However, because the applications are built atop a blockchain, you must use that blockchain's coins to pay for transactions. ETH is required in order to pay for transactions on the Ethereum network, SOL is necessary on the Solana blockchain, and so forth.

Cheat Sheet

• DeFi, shorthand for “decentralized finance,” is a catchall term for a group of financial tools built on a blockchain.
• The idea is to allow anyone with internet access to lend, borrow and bank without going through middlemen.
• DeFi is one of the fastest growing areas of the blockchain and decentralized web space.