DeFi

DeFi, short for decentralized finance, represents a shift in the financial sector by leveraging blockchain technology, primarily Ethereum, to eliminate traditional financial intermediaries. It enables various financial applications, from simple transactions to complex contracts, through smart contracts that execute automatically under specific conditions. Key DeFi applications include decentralized exchanges (DEXs), stablecoins, lending platforms, and prediction markets. DeFi offers financial services like loans and interest-earning opportunities without traditional identity verification, relying instead on collateral, usually in cryptocurrency. This innovative sector promises increased accessibility and efficiency but comes with risks, such as market volatility and unregulated projects.


Tech

DeFi Privacy Is Getting a Boost From Polkadot Parachain Manta Network

Manta Network will build MantaSwap now that it has closed a $1.1 million funding round.

Manta-Network

Markets

First Mover: Federal Reserve Soup Now Includes Bitcoin, DeFi, Silver, GameStop

Market news from crypto to Wall Street is all over the place.

Markets news from crypto to Wall Street has become a soup of previously unthinkable combinations. Can the Fed handle it?

Finance

Aave's Founder Angel Invests to Grow DeFi's Head Start on the Banks

Stani Kulechov has backed nearly 40 projects in his search for founders who see two or three moves ahead.

Stani Kulechov (left) at Devcon V in Osaka, Japan.

Markets

Market Wrap: Bitcoin Bumps to $38.6K While DeFi Exchanges Hit $50B

Crypto spot volumes rose to the second-highest level in over a month.

CoinDesk 20 Bitcoin Price Index

Finance

Algorand Teams Up With Crypto Custodian Curv for ‘Trusted DeFi’

The firms aim to build technology that "appeals to traditional institutions, payment providers [and] governments."

Curv team

Finance

Digital Asset Manager Grayscale Eyes DeFi Space With New Trust Filings

Trusts for aave, cosmos and polkadot, as well as privacy coin monero and cardano, have been registered in Delaware.

Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein

Finance

What DeFi Has in Common With Cubism

DeFi's innovation system is reminiscent of an art movement that passes ideas back and forth until lasting breakthroughs emerge.

CoinDesk placeholder image

Markets

Market Wrap: Bitcoin Drops to $29.9K While DeFi Hits Record $29B Locked

Today was the first time bitcoin traded below $30,000 since Jan. 21.

CoinDesk 20 Bitcoin Price Index

Finance

Former Bitspark CEO George Harrap Joins Crypto PR Firm as Head of DeFi

"I've been around crypto for a decade now and DeFi has me as excited as when I mined my first bitcoin," Harrap told CoinDesk.

George Harrap, head of DeFi, YAP Global

Finance

EY’s Paul Brody Expects Consumer DeFi Ignition in 2021

Welcome to the world of boomer DeFi.

EY blockchain lead Paul Brody