Category: DeFi

What is defi and what are some key projects you should know about in this space?

Defi stands for decentralized finance and refers to projects that aim to democratize financial access and remove central intermediaries such as banks and companies. The vision is similar to that of a cooperative: an entity that people own and operate.

The difference with Defi is that technically no one owns the projects and no one operates it. Defi protocols run on their own. A community of supporters continue to upgrade the code. They do this either on a voluntary basis or in return for a reward that everyone agrees on.

Defi came about as soon as Ethereum emerged. The smart contract functionality that Ethereum offers allows anyone to build a protocol on top of it that acts according to specified rules.

For example, you could create a lending and borrowing protocol such as Compound or a stablecoin protocol such as DAI.

Projects usually start off as projects with central teams. A VC will often invest in and sponsor the project. Sometimes Defi projects bootstrap funding through an ICO or IDO (initial discord offering). Once the project kicks off, the founding team distributes governance tokens to active community members.

Communities of supporters gather on Twitter, Discord and Telegram. At this stage the project is considered decentralized. It is important to cross check this by looking at the governance structure and what proportion of tokens the core team still retains.

The only way to really understand this space is to dive into some of the projects.

Check out key Defi protocols below

Can I Buy Bitcoin with a Credit Card on Cash App?

Yes, the Cash App allows you to deposit fiat currency and buy bitcoin with a debit or credit card. The following credit card issuers are accepted: Visa MasterCard American Express Discover This article is part of my series on how to buy crypto. Cash App credit card fees to buy bitcoin Buying crypto with a credit […]

What Is Chainge Finance and Is $XCHNG a Good Investment

In this post, I will explain what Chainge Finance does and whether I think investing in its XCHNG token is a good investment or not. What is Chainge Finance? From a user perspective, Chainge is an app that allows you to trade any cryptocurrency cross-chain and avail of DeFi services to become your own digital […]

What Is Ondo Finance and Its ONDO Token: Best Guide

In this post, I will explain what Ondo Finance is and how it works. I will walk you through the different entities that make up the Ondo ecosystem and where $ONDO, the token, comes into play. We’ll also take a look at the ONDO’s fundamentals and how it scores across dimensions such as team expertise, […]

How Does Chainlink Get Its Value: Ultimate Explainer

In this post, I will walk you through how Chainlink gets its value. We’ll talk about Chainlink’s utility and why its services are in demand. I will walk you through what problem Chainlink solves and what kind of products it provides. We’ll take a close look at the three factors driving its value: the scarcity of […]

What Is Chainlink Backed By? Investors and Guarantees

In this post, I explore what Chainlink is backed by. I mean this both in a literal sense as in what ensures that the data provided by Chainlink is correct and figuratively as in who are the investors backing Chainlink labs, the team behind Chainlink. First, let’s start with the technology. What is Chainlink? Chainlink […]

How Does Chainlink CCIP Work? Best Beginner’s Guide

If you’ve read the official documentation on how Chainlink CCIP works and are still confused don’t worry. It’s normal. The official documentation is full of a lot of jargon and assumes you have a good grounding in all things crypto. In this guide, I will explain how the chainlink cross-chain interoperability protocol works in simple […]

Where Chainlink Gets Its Data: Guide to How Feeds Work

In this post, I will walk you through where Chainlink gets its data from. I will describe how Chainlink connects to external data sources and give you some examples of how their decentralized oracle service actually works. You might also want to check How Does Chainlink Get Its Value. Heads up: if you don’t know […]

Is Chainlink Actually Used? Guide with 12 examples

In this post, I will walk you through how Chainlink is used. I will show you which apps and companies are using Chainlink and the extent of its usage. You might also want to check how Chainlink gets its value. Chainlink usage in numbers Chainlink’s external data sources are the most widely used resource across blockchains. […]

What Is Chainlink Crypto? Best Explanation with Examples

In this post, I will explain what Chainlink crypto does in the simplest way possible. I kept hearing about Chainlink prior to researching it but I hadn’t realized just how big a player they are in the crypto ecosystem. In this post, I will walk you through what Chainlink is, how it works and give […]

What Is TaaS Cryptocurrency? Get the Lowdown in 4 Mins

TaaS stands for “Token-as-a-Service,” and was a closed-end tokenized fund that operated on the Ethereum blockchain. Essentially, TaaS cryptocurrency was a way for people to invest in crypto assets without having to deal with the technical barriers that can make it tough to get started. If you purchased a TaaS token you owned a piece of […]

What Is HEX Cryptocurrency? 8 Points to Get You Fully Covered

HEX is the most polarizing cryptocurrency I have come across. It’s like Donald Trump. Half the people think HEX is going to make crypto great again. The other half can’t stand it. In this post I am going to explain HEX to you like you were 5. It’s pretty easy to wrap your head around. […]

What is Curve Finance: 13 points you need to fully get to grips with the famous stablecoin exchange

In this article, I will introduce you to Curve Finance. Curve Finance is one of the foundational protocols of DeFi. It has almost $4Bn in total value locked and is the 6th largest DeFi protocol by that measure. I find its simplicity extremely exciting and hope you will too. In this article, I will explain […]