The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to DeFi

Understanding DeFi & the History Leading to Decentralized Finance

What is DeFi?

Decentralized Finance, most commonly known as DeFi, is a financial ecosystem based on a collective network of participants on a blockchain or a series of blockchains. In contrast, traditional finance models are centrally operated, meaning they have an overarching single point of governance like a company or third party authority. DeFi is an umbrella term used to describe distributed blockchain systems that function in any category of finance such as corporate, personal, or behavioral finance. Most aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrency are decentralized in nature but the true working innovation of DeFi is when two or more of these chains and projects can work together without a primary means of operation.

Almost everything we do with money is an extension of finance including banking, loans, interest rates, derivatives and trading, budgeting, or ownership of assets that have value like real estate. All of these systems today work on our normal finance system that is in custody of a select few or in many occasions a single point of contact for those financial operations. 

Why is Decentralized Finance Important?

The concept and function behind DeFi is very important as we look at the changing nature of how money works and operates in our daily lives. A decentralized method to use money has unique benefits and helps most participants within the system equally, while ensuring that the system is highly secure. Most people trying to explain Defi want to give counter-arguments against a centralized system instead of discussing its prolific applications. Although there are plenty of negative aspects to a centralized system, it is not a reasonable approach to pursue to encourage DeFi. Instead, DeFi has not only a substantial amount of positives but also has features that are needed for a new age of technology. 

The two main pillars to DeFi are 1) equal participation of the network and 2) allowing a distribution of authority, which in turn makes it more equal and open to all participants. In short, a DeFi network is designed to be open to all and secure by hackers or takeover. 

Being an equal participant in a network means you will not be disregarded or discriminated against based on fundamental identities like race, gender, religion, age, or country of origin. It will also be much more difficult for someone to be excluded based on financial tools such as credit scores, income size, and standard of living unless the financial service specifically requires it. Many of the projects in the DeFi space are open source and have their code listed, available to all. 

Understanding the History of Finance

In order to understand the importance of DeFi further it is important to visit a basic understanding of the history of finance, which has changed as social economics have developed. The origin of money itself is not easily defined throughout human history. A common thought but myth of “financial history” is that the monetary system was preceded by a barter system, which some anthropologists claim is not true. Nevertheless, there are historical records that date back to 9000 BC where domesticated cattle and livestock was used as a “money of exchange”. 

We do not know if a true barter system was in play as a network, but we do know that certain materials have been used (like the livestock example) as well as natural metals found throughout the world like gold. Using metals in this way is called commodity money. The first solid evidence of this is Mesopotamia in 3000 BC, which coincidently allowed their economy to work at a larger scale. 

As centuries passed, many problems and complexities arose with the issuance of metal weighted coins despite this being an innovative way for economic standardization. Issues like metal coins wearing down over consistent use could devalue the coin. Fraud has been committed by changing the metallic composition of coins, even for the benefit of royalty. In addition to the problems of manipulation, it was often a burden to carry so many coins if you wanted to save or purchase something of great value. Being a huge target for theft was also a real threat because sacks of money could not easily be hidden from the public eye. 

The beginning of the concept of “account money” was credited to Babylon around 1800 BC regarding interest rates to payback borrowed assets. Paper money however did not appear until the 11th century by the Song Dynasty. Banknotes, promissory notes that can be exchanged for money, were issued in the 1600s but quickly collapsed in less than five years. Afterward, banknote popularity grew exponentially as economies shifted away from material exchange in favor of an exchange based on a pegged measure of value.

Banking in the 15th century became common and was typically done by people groups or families. By the 17th century, modern banking took shape as a result of lending and interest rates merging with paper money. Some of our troublesome financial practices seen today like fractional reserve banking took shape around this time. Paper money was gaining significant ground but still pegged to a coin of value or metal. However, decoupling of precious metals and pegged currencies started to change, beginning with Great Britain and eventually with other countries like the United States in 1971. This marked a full, worldwide scale of money being decoupled from value to a reliance on authoritative trust. 

As you may be able to see with these historical patterns, it has always been difficult to see whether financial services and money is defined by a money of exchange (gold, grains, or property) or money of an account (debts or loans). Ironically, blockchain technology seems to combine both of them, with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities of sustained value in combination with DeFi for lending and other services through smart contacts. It is quite literally a confluence of the entire record of money used in human history.

The Problems With Centralized Finance

There have been many apparent problems associated with the centralized nature of financial institutions, especially within the last 50 years since the dethroning of gold toward a full favor of paper money. Banks and financial companies have had to pay massive amounts of settlements on their unethical practices but sometimes the punishments are worth far less than profits of their breached terms. Banks are also guilty of manipulating precious metals like the case of JPMorgan: a bank that created manipulation of gold and silver during an eight year period, given a relatively petty fine of $550 million, and up for a second case of criminal charges in 2020.

Another issue is blatant security flaws that are extremely problematic when you consider that these institutions can be compromised much easier as a centralized system. Even mobile banking has its limits as the top 14 mobile banking apps all felt short of proper security measures for their users. Something that has a centralization to its operation has less points and often a single point of failure to which money and data could be compromised. The broader part of the world lives largely in a paper money market within a digital era, making them essentially out of reach in a modern approach to finance. However, with paper money showing severe weakness and technological advances, a digital coin has been seriously addressed around the world.

The Birth of Bitcoin & the Cryptocurrency Boom

Over the span of decades and different economic issues like the housing market crash in 2008, many people started to lose their trust in the banking system as a result of centralized manipulation and constant bailouts. This led someone by the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto to create Bitcoin in 2009. As an ode to the flaws brought about by the banking system, Satoshi was able to write a message within the genesis block with the phrase “Chancellor on brink of second bailout of banks”, a nod to a feature article about Allistar Darling to “pump” the economy by giving banks cheaper state guarantees. 

The popularity of Bitcoin caught wind and started to grow with the idea that it was a functional system of exchange without the need of a “trust party” like a bank. The first “official transaction” was done by someone ordering a pizza for 10,000 BTC, who asked someone on the internet to buy two pizza in exchange for Bitcoin. The day on which this happened is now celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day. Although the road of Bitcoin from then til now is slightly complex in how people have used it, overall it has managed to be a successful system with more uptime than some of the most popular and secure companies of today.

The rise of Bitcoin also gave rise to the creation of other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and XRP in 2013 but in more recent years came the Ethereum blockchain by creator Vitalik Buterin which is the main highway that DeFi is being used.

The World of DeFi

Understanding the DeFi Ecosystem

Today, there are 60 established DeFi tokens and growing, with almost 200 mentionable DeFi projects. These tokens and projects help create solutions in the decentralized finance space in contrast to the issues of banks and other centralized platforms. DeFi projects have real world comparisons with the features they provide like payments, loans, derivatives, and even refinancing options. Many of these projects have extremely intuitive user experiences as well.

Before you can understand the nature of DeFi and decentralized finance projects working together, it’s important to understand the entire ecosystem. As one would expect, decentralization plays a pivotal role in the world of DeFi, most notably in the area of functionality without a party of trust. A person is able to buy, sell, and trade digital assets without talking to anyone or trusting in an online network to keep running into order to obtain a successful exchange. Uniswap is a perfect example of this, where someone can simply go to the website location, connect a wallet, select the coins they wish to exchange, and do so by paying minimal fees.

The world of DeFi has wallets, APIs, plugins, applications, and interfaces all located on a blockchain or connected to a blockchain. This series of features are the on-ramps to what DeFi can accomplish: adding coins like DAI and USDC within a blockchain system to generate annual percentage yields (APY) like a savings account, or using lending capabilities to let other users take advantage of the capital which not only stays in your ownership but can also generate more capital off of the borrowers trading fees. Some projects allow you to own wrapped tokens of popular coins that can be kept in cold storage and generate interest in real time.

DeFi Explained Beyond the Surface

These features not only have similarities of traditional finance, but also offer better yield rates and allow someone to utilize a blockchain for peer to peer lending and borrowing. In the world of banks, credit unions, and lending companies this can take a matter of days or weeks and much longer if you need to establish or repair qualifying credit. In some of these cases, credit scores are checked as well as income stabilization and history, which can often be a source or inaccuracy or discrimination. Paperwork for standard loans can be susceptible to human error while sectors like the automotive industry can manipulate consumers into longer terms through coercion to pay higher interest through the deception of lower payments. 

In contrast, blockchain technology plays a pivotal role in DeFi by setting the terms, being agnostic toward a user’s identity (only money talks), and by eliminating human error or manipulation.

In short, DeFi offers the following benefits in comparison to traditional finance:

• Higher APY rates: on average, a stable annual return for locking a stablecoin like DAI or USDC is around 4%, which is 250 to 400% higher than the average popular savings account. Rates on DeFi projects like Aave, Compound, and Dharma are in the 6-7% APY rate frequently.
• Ownership of Assets: you are in control of how you maintain your digital assets, where to store them, how you can spend them, and when you buy or sell them. You can import multiple wallets to the same location and even integrate the same wallets in multiple exchanges at once, for example having a wallet connected to Unisawp while you also have a visual of your assets on a beautiful interface and DeFi index database like Zerion.
• No manipulation of terms: There are no salesmen, pressure, or shady fine print to trick you into different terms than you planned to sign up for. The blockchain code stays intact and free from changes on the terms.

Understanding Ethereum in Context of DeFi

Decentralized Finance uses assets to create financial services by the means of smart contracts, which of course can only be done on blockchains that have these capabilities. Although there are a few different blockchains offering this service under the hood, the biggest blockchain by far in the world of DeFi is Ethereum. 

Ethereum has a rich but short history with the vision that was built around smart contacts. This feature allows users to build on the ETH network in numerous ways – from something as basic as messaging or currency exchange or to something more complex, such as creating tokens to be used for other sub-networks, applications for file storage, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

With this suite of benefits, ETH grew very quickly in the crypto world and many projects were built on top of it. Ethereum uses its own programming language called Solidity which is very similar to Javascript, allowing easy transfer of skills. After some time, DeFi projects started to exist without being labeled as such. Projects that are successful today that were first movers are coins like the 0x Project and Aave (formerly LEND, which goes by the same ticker).

Every project built on the Ethereum blockchain must naturally use ETH as a means of exchange. This reliance on blockchain has many strengths as this gives the blockchain more value. Conversely, with most of the DeFi projects on one blockchain, this causes some people to have concern if the network faces issues regarding scaling. Thus far there has not been any major cause for concern but there are always serious considerations to always improve the network.

Other DeFi Blockchain Networks

It would be unfair to focus only on the Ethereum network despite the fact that the umbrella term of DeFi uses Ethereum for 95% of all its operations. The emergence of other blockchain platforms being used for decentralized finance gives a look into what DeFi could offer in the future. Some of these chains also existed before Ethereum but have been slow movers. Nevertheless, the Ethereum network was the first big mover and presents creators with a “self-fulfilling” dilemma. If someone wishes to work on DeFi, Ethereum is the easiest path to take yet this also creates less innovation on other platforms. All things considered, the space is still early and encourages innovation on both the Ethereum chain and others as well. There are some possible contenders in the space in addition to some upcoming blockchains to take advantage.

Here is a list of popular and rising DeFi platform networks. There are hundreds of projects with a decentralized component, but this list focuses on those that have a strong financial application, have a considerable amount of developer activity, and are actively trying to work alongside other projects with similar intentions:

• Ethereum: as expected, this chain is the largest by far, holding a multitude of projects like MakerDAO, Aave, Compound, Kyber Network, Synthetic, and Balancer, all of which have tokens of their own, in addition to non-token projects like Instadapp and Uniswap. 
• Band: functioning more as a cross-chain platform than its own dedicated network, Band Protocol is a non-discriminative oracle that connects data together for scalability. Band is not designed to be a competitor but instead a helper; the chain integrates with the Ethereum platform and other chains.
• Cosmos: Otherwise known to many as the exchange ticker ATOM, Cosmos is another cross platform solution like Band Protocol, but uses integrations like Tendermint BFT for consensus measures and the Interblockchain Communication module for interoperability. Cosmos is designed to work as a SDK.
• Nervos Network: trying to take the best of every chain, the Nervos Network is a layer 1 solution which uses smart contracts on a proof of work (PoW) consensus for the purpose of multi digital asset support. The network is actively trying to manage solutions that the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains have yet to solve.
• Polkadot: created as an open source project by the Web3 Foundation, Polkadot is a platform designed to be a network protocol for future integrations that “are not yet created”. The creators of Polkadot are letting people lead in which blockchain platforms to use while they create tools to make those platforms better. This project is more about making hammers and nails to build a house instead of building the house itself.
• Bitcoin: you might be surprised to see the king of cryptocurrency itself on this list, but Bitcoin is a decentralized network that has been used for financial applications. In addition to a multitude of wallet support and blockchain integration on other chains to create Bitcoin wrappers, its most famous “DeFi” project is the Lightning Network. This project was designed as a Layer 2 solution to the scaling issues that Bitcoin faced.

Wallets in the DeFi Ecosystem

Taking advantage of the DeFi world requires someone to have proper asset management. A required aspect of this management is the ownership of wallets on the network associated with the DeFi coin or service. A wallet is the location where you can interact with your digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Wallets are able to help monitor, send, and receive assets based on the public and private key data that is given. 

There are four main types of wallets with some similarities between all of them:

• Cold Storage Wallets: this is a type of wallet that stays offline for most of its lifespan. The main feature of cold storage wallets is its ability to be stored offline to prevent unnecessary hacking or theft. Common examples of cold wallets include Leger and Trezor storage options, but also include more archaic options like paper, notebooks, and metal punch cards.
• Hot Storage Wallets: this wallet type is one that generally stays online or connected to a software system or exchange. The benefit of hot storage is the instant connectivity for deposit or withdrawal of an asset. The most common examples of this includes wallets on an exchange or through applications on mobile devices or browser extensions.
• Multi-Signature Wallets: the main feature of multi-signature wallets, or MultiSig, is the added layer of security by requiring multiple users access to the wallet, each with a “key”, where a certain number of keys are required to access the digital assets within the wallet. A popular multisig service is called Casa which uses a subscription service.
• Name Service Wallets: some wallets have unique features that make it easier to transact. The most common type of service wallet is called Ethereum Name Service, or ENS. This allows you to use names with the ETH suffix attached (crypto.eth) instead of standard ledger addresses that are less readable to the untrained eye. The wallets are automatically configured to send and receive transactions without needing to remember long addresses or get scared about losing funds. Another type of special wallet is called a Blockchain Domain Name, which is a decentralized web address (myExample.crypto) where you can send assets to directly. This is mainly a service created by Unstoppable Domains.

Here is a list of the most integratable wallets used in DeFi for the Ethereum network (add popular companies using each one of these):

• MetaMask: the MetaMask wallet is the most common wallet integration. Advertising themselves as a “crypto wallet and gateway to blockchain apps” they have foundationally built themselves to integrate with a very broad range of DeFi services. MetaMask allows for almost any kind of ETH token integration like erc20 and erc721, with the ability to add funds through mobile payment systems like Apple Pay.
• Fortmatic: recently changed to Magic, this wallet is actually an SDK built for web3 and dApp integrations. Fortmatic goes a step farther than MetaMask by allowing developers to customize wallets with an intuitive UI. For those that are not developers, they also offer out-of-the-box integration. Fortmatic is a great choice if you are running a business and would like to accept DeFi payments. For those without an online business, this is still a fantastic wallet that’s popular on a lot of DeFi sites today. 

• Coinbase Wallet: as you may expect from the name, this is a wallet created by Coinbase. One of the strengths of Coinbase Wallet is it’s ease of use and integration, making it a decent option for both users and developers. In addition, Coinbase Wallet lets you add collectibles like Crypto Kitties as well as different types of ERC tokens and also supports DNS transactions. You can also switch away to other wallets like MetaMask and MyEtherWallet. Last but not least, Coinbase Wallet is mobile friendly and available on most app stores. 
• Trust Wallet: another common wallet is Trust Wallet which provides a comprehensive package for the everyday DeFi owner. The main feature of Trust Wallet is it’s ease of use and UI, along with personal ownership of assets. Instead of having flashy features, Trust Wallet just tries to do things simple and effective. They also have a mobile app for iOS and Android in addition to having a convenient browser plug-in so you can access DeFi within the wallet. 
• Portis: adding to the clean interface and intuitive UI wallets is Portis, which is the most elegant of all of them. They are able to do something that most popular wallets do not offer: they allow users to sponsor the gas fees of other users so they can send their transactions in a more friendly way or if they need to send money without concern for fees. Called Gas Relay, it is operational by use of the Gas Stations Network which is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP).
• MyEtherWallet: recently rebranded to the acronym MEW, MyEtherWallet is one of the original ERC-20 compatible wallets and has a simple feature set of basic wallet functions to have a wallet that just works. MEW is also an open source project.
• iM Token: another wallet that was one of the first, imToken is known for being a multichain wallet that supports over 200,000 cryptocurrencies and tokens, in addition to offering bleeding edge DeFi features like Yield Farming and staking. The imToken wallet also offers an impressive connectivity to eight different chains.
• Argent: a completely Ethereum based wallet, Argent packs a very heavy punch in a small package. It is a crypto wallet first and foremost where you control the assets, but also allows a heavyweight of DeFi integrations like Maker, Compound, Aave, in addition to unique DeFi projects like Pool Together and an AI based blockchain project called Token Set which allows you to purchase special assets for algorithmic trading and crypto management.

The Power of DeFi in Action

Peer to Peer Transfers

DeFi allows you to do one basic but breakthrough financial service since before its name even became popular: sending and receiving digital assets from one person to another without relying on a bank or wait times. It shouldn’t be understated on how valuable sending money this way can be. Sending money this way solves a multitude of issues:

• No reliance on a company or third party
• No restrictions on sending or receiving times
• Exchanging hands from anywhere on the globe 
• Extra layers of security 
• Much more general privacy and less eyes looking at the transactions for approval 
• Not using your exchange for data gathering or intelligence 

Certain services like Cash App have made great strides to have a more peer to peer experience, however users are still limited to things like daily withdrawal limits and KYC regulations. Crypto.com has also made good progress in designing a “Plan B” that combines crypto wallets with earning interest options and a Visa debit card. Although Crypto.com (formerly Monaco) is almost fully centralized, they do offer a wallet to transfer your private keys into your hands. 

A more decentralized option that focused on payments is Flexa, who has a pretty solid partnership with a number of heavy hitters in the cryptocurrency space including Gemini, Shape Shift, Bread, Dharma, and many others. 

Another popular payment system is the Lightning Network that although is an independent system that adds smart contract functionality, it is most commonly used on Bitcoin. 

Decentralized Exchanges 

In 2018, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) were starting to become a reality and have made lots of headway since then. These exchanges allow you to trade your digital assets from one kind to another without relying on a normal exchange. A number of benefits are present in DEX trading:

• Higher security by trading directly from a connected cold wallet instead of a built in exchange wallet 
• Not nearly as restricted to one particular exchange
• Less requirements for identification like KYC

We are still in the early days of DEX trading so liquidity can be an issue, but the ability to trade currencies without a third party is a great feature. 

Here are some of the most popular DEX platforms:

• Uniswap: one of the oldest on this list, Uniswap is a liquidity providing protocol that allows you to trade ERC-20 tokens. It has a robust set of features with swaps, flash swaps, pool creation, and the use of on-chain price oracles.
• Macha: created by the owners of 0x project and the ZRX token, Macha is an extremely simple, UI focused exchange that allows you to trade directly from your wallet without any KYC or user identity confirmation. Matcha also specializes in getting the best price for an exchange by using liquidity aggregators. 
• Curve Finance: the main feature of this exchange is to have an extreme efficiency in trading stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and DAI. The features that make this happen are low fees in addition to extremely low slippage variables.
• Balancer: a very unique approach to an exchange, Balancer is a pool management protocol system that allows users to add or create liquidity and in turn helps enhance the built-in market maker system that Balancer operates on. They are advertised as the opposite of an index fund. While investing in index funds, you give your investments to portfolio managers for constant rebalancing. Balancer allows you to instead gain money from trading fees associated with a portfolio rebalance by taking advantage of network arbitrage.
• Bancor: the Bancor Network is an exchange that is similar to other DEXs but relies on non-custodial trades so it doesnt use the typical methods of liquidity like other exchanges. Furthermore, it uses three DeFi chains on its exchange: Ethereum, POA, and EOS.
• Loopring: processing trades at over 2000 per second, Loopring is a DEX that uses a zero knowledge process which creates an extra layer of security and off-chain relayers that help with the smart contact system for the on-chain assets used in trading.
• Kyber: the Kyber Network is an exchange that takes an all-inclusive approach to liquidity by tapping into a manifold set of aggregators such as market makers, liquidity pools, and token holders. Having all of these liquidity departments also allow them to generate the best price for a buyer or seller. Another unique feature of Kyber is the traders are done completely on-chain
• DeversiFi: the features behind DeversiFi are straight and simple: the ability to offer fast trading with low fees. The claim for this exchange is the ability to manage over 9,000 transactions per second and a very low fee cost ranging from 0.2 to no fee at all. It uses a special scaling layer to achieve this. The final result of the trade finishes on-chain.

Lending Pools 

The lending sector of DeFi is arguably the most popular and competitive area. It is a frontier that is stretching what DeFi is able to accomplish by allowing users to add their assets to a smart contract and use their crypto in different ways. One of the main benefits of lending pools is allowing participation in interest staking of different coins. Users simply deposit the amount they wish onto the blockchain transaction and they are able to obtain interest as long as it remains on contract. Some of these lending contacts let you generate interest in real time and in cold storage. 

The second main benefit is the ability to lend assets into a pool to be used by others for trading or investing. This allows you to generate rewards like interest or their fees associated with trading. This is also a great benefit if you have crypto set aside that you don’t wish to trade but still wish to put to good use.

Lending pools are a great utility in DeFi. They share many benefits with centralized systems but without the drawbacks that come with a single point system. Here are some of the selling points of lending pools:

• Community driven 
• Equal opportunity and participation 
• Secured collateral – nothing is loaned beyond the scope of the pool 
• No paperwork, restrictions, wait times, or haggling or terms
• No company in the business of your own assets
• Many different options and rates well beyond normal centralized rates

Here is a list of some of the most popular DeFi lending projects:

• Maker: the project behind the stablecoin DAI, Maker is a lending platform that gives users credit by locking in assets as collateral. Utilization of that collateral is up around 150% collateralization ratio. Maker also has an option called Oasis Save which allows users to generate interest on their DAI.
• Compound: another DeFi lending platform that allows users to borrow assets, Compound has options to create collateralized loans of 50-75% of their deposited asset value. Compound has made impressive partnerships including Coinbase Custody, BitGo, and Token Tax.
• Aave: more famously known for its flash loans, Aave is an open source protocol that primarily lets users generate interest in their assets when deposited to the protocol. In addition, collateral based borrowing is available but is dynamic based on the type of asset instead of a flat rate.

Roles of Stablecoins in a DeFi Network

Stablecoins take a big spotlight in DeFi and are very important to consider why they are used and how they are beneficial to this area of cryptocurrency. If you are unaware of what stablecoins are, they are coins or tokens that are designed to have low volatility in order to maintain a certain value. These stablecoins are typically backed 1:1 by the asset that it’s supposed to represent. The most common type of stablecoins are coins pegged to the United States Dollar like Tether, USDC, TUSD, and Dai. Others are pegged to other currencies like Canadian Dollars of Euros (TCAD, TEUR). In addition, some are pegged to volatile assets like Ethereum and Bitcoin, known as wrapped assets, in this case wETH and wBTC respectively. Although ETH and BTC are coins we consider volatile, they are still not volatile according to their own currency: 1 BTC or ETH (in this case wBTC and wETH) remains 1 BTC or ETH as that is the denomination of those currencies. 

Stability in DeFi is important because it decreases the amount of variables in a financial service like lending or investing. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense if you had a stable APY but the asset varies in its own value. This would cause uncertainty in the value of your asset or the benefit of someone lending an asset. Although you can leverage a volatile asset, this dramatically increases your chances of liquidation or massive expectation of asset value. As a result, stablecoins are a mainstay. 

The most popular stablecoins in DeFi are as follows:

• DAI: a decentralized token on the ETH blockchain and “soft-pegged” on a 1:1 ratio to the USD owned by MakerDAO
• USDC: known as the USD coin, this is a 1:1 pegged ERC-20 token of the US dollar. It is on the Ethereum network with founding companies of Coinbase and Circle.
• USDT: one of the original stablecoins known as Tether and also a 1:1 peg to the USD hosted on the Omni blockchain where they state the coins are backed by various reserves like Gold 
• TUSD: otherwise known as the Trust Token, this is a 1:1 peg to the USD 
• SUSD: a 1:1 dollar peg issued by the Synthetix project on the Ethereum platform
• BUSD: Binance stablecoin that is 1:1 USD peg in partnership with Paxos and used for decentralized finance services 

Wrapped Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Other Digital Assets

Some functions of DeFi require you to trade digital assets that aren’t compatible with a platform you wish to use for a service. This requires a process known as “wrapping”. While nothing is technically being wrapped in a physical sense, it is a descriptive term for creating compatibility to a specific network architecture. Bitcoin has many uses on other networks and not just as a standalone currency. Users can wrap Bitcoin to be compatible with the Ethereum network for example which allows that Bitcoin to be ERC-20 compatible that is also backed 1:1 in value. This is also backed by some of the biggest Defi projects and oldest crypto projects in the space. Another big example is Ethereum, which is not actually compatible with its own network, so wrapped ETH tokens also exist and are the most popular wrapped non-stablecoin token. In addition, a lot of stablecoins are also wrapped like sUSD (Synthetix) to be compatible with their own exchange.

Wrapping an asset provides more benefits than just compatibility benefits. Wrapped assets also offer liquidity to a blockchain, allows hard assets to be directly tradable with tokens, and reduces noise by only utilizing one node (if on the Ethereum network for example) instead of multiple. This is aso very handy for decentralized exchanges. In other words, less moving parts so less complications or things to break. When an asset like Bitcoin is about to be wrapped, the Bitcoin is taken under a smart contract and a wrapped BTC token is minted and used while it is held. A user under this smart contract keeps ownership of this wrapped BTC until its use has expired, which can then be burned in exchange for receiving BTC of equivalent amount back to the user.

Coins in this way are recognized as wrapped by using the lowercase “w” prefix, for example: wBTC and wETH for wrapped Bitcoin and wrapped Etherum respectively. It is also assumed that the tickers in all caps, WBTC and WETH, are also considered wrapped.

Single Block DeFi Unsecured Loans aka “Flash Loans”

Most of the features available in DeFi lending today are collateralized, which means that users must have a digital asset or similar collateral in order to move forward with a feature. That changed not long ago in the crypto world with the introduction of Flash Loans made popular by Aave. The company behind the LEND token claims to be the inventor of the first successful uncollateralized loan on chain. 

The inner workings of these Flash Loans operate within one single block transaction. In other words, while some DeFi features and lending can be held onto for days, weeks, and even months or years, Aave Flash Loans are returned within one block to ensure liquidity. This loan is generated by the chain and can be used freely while a user is in possession of it. 

This immediately raises questions about returning the loan on chain without losing value or by users giving proper repayment. In the CeFi world, it is commonplace for people to miss payments and default on loans. Aave has thought of this and countered it with a built in feature where the transaction becomes reversed if it is not paid in full.

A Closer Look at Derivatives on a DeFi Network

Stepping back a bit, decentralization isn’t just about Ethereum, interest rates, and lending. The sector of trading and derivatives also has a place in the DeFi world, giving another area where crypto and blockchain technology are taking the market share from traditional systems. 

Derivatives are simply securities that derive their value from a particular asset. This feature uses contracts as a means of trading instead of the asset itself as well as an agreement between two parties. Some of the most common types of derivatives in the centralized world are Futures, Options, and Swaps. The benefits of derivatives range from locking in a particular price for an asset or by utilizing margin as a means of purchase. 

Decentralized derivatives provide all the features of a normal centralized one but offer the ability and freedom to use it without strict regulation and cost. A majority of people are unable to use centralized derivatives because they do not have a big enough portfolio or because their country restricts it without certain regulations (certain countries are not allowed to use crypto derivatives too). However with a DeFi platform, these restrictions are removed, allowing more users to participate, albeit with higher risks. 

The most popular DeFi derivatives service to date is Synthetix. They offer over 30 different asset derivatives including commodities like Gold and fiat. They are able to do this by taking advantage of the Ethereum network and allowing users to change their assets into a wrapped ERC20 token called SNX, then trade accordingly. A unique feature of Synthetix is that the trading fees associated with the derivatives are given to SNX holders, allowing users to be rewarded for offering stability to the network.

Index of DeFi Categories & Projects

The world of decentralized finance is expanding daily. Here is a list of projects in their respective categories that are on the frontier of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

Lending:

• Aave: https://aave.com 
• Compound: https://compound.finance 
• DDEX: https://ddex.io 
• Dharma: https://www.dharma.io 
• dYdX: https://dydx.exchange 
• EOSREX: https://eosauthority.com/rex 
• Fulcrum: https://fulcrum.trade 
• Instadapp: https://instadapp.io 
• Maker: https://makerdao.com/en/ 
• Nuo Network: https://nuo.network 

Decentralized Exchanges:

• 1inch.exchange: https://1inch.exchange/#/ 
• AirSwap: https://www.airswap.io 
• Balancer: https://balancer.finance 
• Bancor: https://www.bancor.network 
• Curve Finance: https://www.curve.fi 
• DeversiFi: https://www.deversifi.com 
• Kyber Network: https://kyber.network 
• Loopring: https://loopring.org/#/ 
• Matcha: https://matcha.xyz 

Decentralized Derivatives:

• Erasure: https://erasure.world 
• Nexus Mutual: https://nexusmutual.io 
• MCDEX: https://mcdex.io
• Opyn: https://opyn.co/#/ 
• Synthetix: https://www.synthetix.io

Payments:

• Celer Network: https://www.celer.network 
• Flexa: https://flexa.network 
• Lightning Network: https://lightning.network 
• Request Network: https://request.network/en/ 

Digital Assets and Asset Management:

• Argent: https://www.argent.xyz 
• DeFi Saver: https://defisaver.com 
• dForce: https://dforce.network 
• Melon: https://melonprotocol.com 
• MetaMask: https://metamask.io 
• mSTable: https://mstable.org 
• PieDAO: https://piedao.org/#/ 
• RenVM: https://renproject.io 
• Set Protocol: https://www.tokensets.com 
• Token Sets: https://www.tokensets.com 
• wBTC: https://wbtc.network 
• Yearn.finance: https://yearn.finance 
• Zerion: https://zerion.io