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.


Finance

Solana Commits $100M to Support South Korean Crypto Projects

The fund, created by Solana Ventures and the Solana Foundation, will focus on virtual gaming and will invest in NFT and DeFi projects.

GameFi skeptics say that these games are not fun. (Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)

Learn

What Are Liquidity Pools?

The term refers to a collection of tokens or digital assets locked in a smart contract that provide essential liquidity to decentralized exchanges.

Liquidity Pool (Unsplash)

Finance

Katie Haun's New Fund Leads $32M Round in Lending Protocol Euler

The funds will go toward treasury diversification for the forthcoming Euler DAO.

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Layer 2

Cell Protocol Wants to 'Democratize' Liquidity in DeFi

The team, finalists during Web 3 Pitch Fest, wants to expand the network "horizontally and vertically" across exchanges and blockchains.

To preserve the anonymity of some of its founding members, Cell Protocol is using non-fungible tokens. (Cell Protocol, modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

CoinDesk Confidential: Robin Schmidt

The head of video and multimedia at media company The Defiant answers our questionnaire ahead of Consensus 2022.

(Robin Schmidt, modified by Melody Wang and Yunha Lee/CoinDesk)

Finance

Beanstalk Stablecoin Protocol 'Barn Raise' Aims to Restore $77M in Lost Funds

Beanstalk was hit by a $182 million flash-loan attack in April.

(Sean Stratton/Unsplash)

Policy

DeFi 'Casino' May Need New Global Regulator, German Central Banker Says

Joachim Wuermeling called for immediate discussions on how to treat DeFi as the Financial Stability Board prepares a rule book for the crypto sector.

Debate rages on how to regulate decentralized finance. (Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images)

Videos

DeFi Ledgers Can Help Regulators Oversee Sector: BIS Official

A new Bank for International Settlements (BIS) working paper makes a case for “embedded supervision” that argues regulatory oversight can be built into seemingly untamable decentralized finance (DeFi) systems. “The Hash” team discusses the feasibility of such supervision and regulating open finance.

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Policy

DeFi Ledgers Can Help Regulators Oversee Sector, BIS Official Says

A new BIS working paper makes a case for "embedded supervision" that argues regulatory oversight can be built into seemingly untamable decentralized finance systems.

Raphael Auer, head of the BIS Innovation Hub's Eurosystem Centre, argues that "embedded supervision" can change the game for DeFi regulation. (BIS)

Opinion

Why You Should Consider Pooling Support Behind DeFi’s PoolTogether

A class-action suit winding through New York’s court system is frivolous and counters crypto’s core principles.

(Raphaël Biscaldi/Unsplash)