DeFi Defined

DeFi—short for decentralized finance—refers to the fast-growing ecosystem of financial products, protocols, and applications that operate on public blockchain networks.

DeFi is rapidly transforming the world of finance with a range of new tools for putting crypto assets to work. It offers opportunities beyond simply buying crypto on a centralized exchange. It allows anyone and everyone to build a decentralized, Bankless lifestyle.

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Why DeFi?

DeFi gives anyone with an internet connection access to sophisticated financial tools: Trading, Options, Lending and Borrowing.

DeFi offers these tools to users transparently and openly. Anyone can look at the code and verify that the contract does what it says it does, unlike what banks do with your money behind closed doors.

There are no middlemen to intermediate or take a cut of your transactions.

Knowledge Check

What does DeFi stand for?

Earning Yield

There are a growing number of DeFi protocols that enable you to earn interest and other rewards by using your crypto assets. You can have access to financial products that you would typically need a bank or financial services firm to get—but without the paperwork, middleman, approval process, and other hassles of the traditional finance world.

By removing the middleman, you also remove any service fees, dues, and commissions you would typically pay in the traditional finance world. With DeFi, you get to keep all the rewards, or yield earned from your assets. This is why DeFi is popular.

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