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 Lender Liquity Unveils New Stablecoin With User-Set Borrowing Rates in White Paper

Liquity V2 will allow borrowers to set their borrowing costs, a novel approach in DeFi, and plans to pay the lion's share of protocol revenues back to liquidity providers.

By Krisztian SandorMay 14, 2024

Policy

Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX’s DeFi Arm Okto to Launch Blockchain and OKTO Token

The objective of Okto is to give global users a single-click mobile experience while traversing the Web3 space.

By Amitoj SinghMay 14, 2024

CoinDCX's co-founders Neeraj Khandelwal and Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX)

Finance

DYdX Founder Antonio Juliano to Step Down as CEO of the Decentralized Exchange; Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen Takes Over

Juliano will become chairman and president of dYdX Trading.

By Danny NelsonMay 13, 2024

dYdX CEO Antonio Juliano (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Opinion

DeFi Gigabrain Tarun Chitra on ETH Staking, Restaking and Why ‘Financial Nihilism' Is a Real Consumer Product

The Gauntlet founder talks about the state of crypto ahead of Consensus 2024.

By Daniel KuhnMay 13, 2024

Tarun Chitra, chief executive officer of Gauntlet, math lover and DeFi risk expert, talks to CoinDesk ahead of Consensus 2024.

Finance

Crypto for Advisors: DeFi Yields, the Revival

Crews Enochs, from Index Coop, discusses the revival of DeFi Yields and D.J. Windle answers questions about DeFi investing in Ask an Expert.

By Crews Enochs, Sarah MortonMay 9, 2024

Markets

Ethena's ENA Jumps 8% as Bybit Endorses USDe Token as Collateral for Derivatives Trading

Ethena's USDe tokenized yield strategy has attracted over $2 billion in deposits and some scrutiny of the token's risks.

By Krisztian SandorMay 7, 2024

Digitally altered photo of a dollar bill (Ryan Quintal/Unsplash, Modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Suilend to Run Monthslong Points Program With a Twist

The protocol's's pseudonymous founder Rooter previously has been critical of "predatory" points programs.

By Danny NelsonMay 7, 2024

A points program with a twist (Agence Olloweb/Unsplash)

Videos

Bitcoin ETFs Are Still 'Wildly Successful': Kraken Head of Strategy

Kraken Head of Strategy Thomas Perfumo weighs in on overall performance across the crypto market and potential approval of spot Ether ETFs in the U.S. Plus, insights on growth in the DeFi space.

May 6, 2024

Tech

The Protocol: EigenLayer's 'Intersubjective Forking' Is Objectively Not Done

Much-hyped restaking project EigenLayer's 43-page whitepaper about its now-revealed EIGEN token has raised lots of questions. They may not matter initially, because much of the promised functionality won't be ready when the token launches.

By Bradley KeounMay 1, 2024