Bitcoin was founded in 2009, and it spawned a vibrant industry. This business, which is based on bitcoin and blockchain technology. It has several niches in which companies build solutions for diverse use cases. The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector is one such specialty.
DeFi was established to provide an alternative to traditional financial services. It powers decentralized apps (DApps) and protocols with smart contracts. Many of the earliest DeFi applications were developed on Ethereum, which still holds the majority of the ecosystem’s total value locked (TVL).
Bitcoin (BTC) is well-known for its decentralized nature. DeFi enhances these features by introducing new capabilities. DeFi, as a subgenre within the larger crypto sector, provides numerous common financial services that are governed by the masses rather than a central body or entities.
How Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Works
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a financial system that use secure distributed ledgers comparable to cryptocurrencies. DeFi removes costs incurred by banks and other financial institutions, allowing users to store money in a secure digital wallet and quickly transfer payments. It is accessible to everyone with an internet connection.
DeFi intends to offer many of the same financial services as traditional institutions, including as loans, deposit interest, and payments. However, it does it through the use of decentralized technology, altering the infrastructure rather than the services themselves.
DeFi accomplishes this through the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts. Blockchain is a ledger that registers all financial platform transactions, creating a permanent record of all activity. Smart contracts are executable codes that hold cryptocurrencies and interact with the blockchain in accordance with the laws of the blockchain. When their requirements are met, these contracts perform transactions automatically.
In essence, DeFi employs blockchain technology and smart contracts to deliver decentralized financial services, eliminating fees and enhancing accessibility.
How Decentralized Finance Differs from Centralized Finance
Traditional financial institutions, such as commercial banks, provide services such as money storage, borrowing capital, earning interest, and transaction processing. These institutions have a proven track record of success and offer insurance and security measures to defend against theft. They do, however, have control over your assets and may impose restrictions such as banking hours and transaction settlement delays. Additionally, they also require personal information and identification to participate.
Banks and third-party intermediaries retain money and facilitate its transfer between parties in centralized finance, charging fees for their services. When a credit card is charged, for example, the merchant sends the information to an acquiring bank, which forwards it to the credit card network. The network clears the charge and asks payment from the bank that issued it. Each business in this chain is compensated for its services, with retailers often paying for credit and debit card transactions.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance), on the other hand, provides financial products and services to anybody with an internet connection, eliminating the need for banks or other intermediaries. Transactions can take place in near real-time 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no capacity for middlemen to halt them. Cryptocurrency can be stored and accessed at any time on computers or hardware wallets.
What are the Benefits of DeFi?
DeFi provides individuals with advantages such as increased security, lower costs, a broader selection of services, and the possibility to make a better income from their cryptocurrency holdings. Decentralized programs (dApps) developed by diverse groups make these advantages possible. dApps allow consumers to transfer funds globally at low cost and with quick settlement, engage in peer-to-peer borrowing and lending, access crypto exchange services, NFTs, and more. Developers pre-program dApps to perform transactions on certain blockchain networks, settle agreements between buyers and sellers, or transfer assets between decentralized platforms.
The opportunity to produce revenue through crypto staking is a popular perk for cryptocurrency investors. This entails contributing to a coin’s ecosystem by validating transactions and receiving money in return. This is a type of yield farming, in which investors receive passive income by supplying crypto assets as liquidity or loans. Many dApps need on liquid cryptocurrency to run their services, therefore they offer revenue in exchange for investors depositing their coins for a set length of time. This generates an income for those who provide liquidity, similar to the interest paid on deposits at traditional banks, but at a larger risk.
Some Use Cases for Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
DeFi builds on the idea of peer-to-peer (P2P) financial transactions, allowing two individuals to trade bitcoin for goods or services without a third party’s intervention. In DeFi, individuals can use P2P to meet their loan needs by pairing with peers who agree to the lender’s terms and issuing a loan. Payments are made through a decentralized app (dApp) and follow the blockchain method.
DeFi has various advantages, including the fact that it is accessible to everyone with an internet connection and has no geographical constraints on transactions. It also allows for direct interest rate negotiations between parties and inexpensive fees for lending money over DeFi networks. Smart contracts published on a blockchain enable security and transparency, with records of completed transactions available for examination without revealing names. Blockchains are also immutable, which means they cannot be altered. Furthermore, DeFi platforms are self-sufficient and do not rely on centralized financial institutions, lowering the danger of hardship or bankruptcy.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies.
Challenges DeFi Poses to Traditional Accounting Systems
Using spreadsheets and QuickBooks Online for DeFi accounting can be difficult and does not scale well for businesses or active traders. This is due to the fact that DeFi transactions can be complex and difficult to trace, making them difficult to effectively record and report using typical accounting methods.
FundCount provides a solution to some of these issues. FundCount offers back-office software that allows crypto investments. This software can assist organizations in effectively tracking and reporting DeFi activities, making accounting and tax requirements easier to manage.
