Decentralized finance (DeFi) includes a variety of financial applications dealing with cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Most of these do not require any financial intermediaries, and can potentially disrupt the existing financial system dominated by centralized finance. The popularization of decentralized finance holds the key to breaking the barriers and can lead to financial freedom. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the common applications in daily life, where decentralized finance can play a leading role.
Decentralized finance is gaining widespread acceptance because it is flexible, fast, transparent, and anonymous. Many DeFi applications that can carry out transactions without considering international borders are highly advantageous for scores of people in the world.
In the realm of decentralized finance, stablecoins play a crucial role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Initially, stablecoins buy cryptocurrencies on trading platforms and tackle price fluctuations by linking the value of cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies such as the American Dollar. Since stablecoins are linked with fiat currencies, they often need to comply with the relevant financial laws and regulations.
Decentralized finance is primarily traded by decentralized exchanges, offered by several companies in the world. These exchanges play an important role in ensuring the growth and widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Users can easily trade cryptocurrencies with one another without the need for any financial intermediaries. Unlike centralized exchanges, DEX transactions are settled fast on the blockchain.
The major benefits of using DEX include using a vast variety of cryptocurrencies, protecting digital money by reducing hacking risks, and staying anonymous online to protect identities. It can also provide financial access to many unbanked people in the developing world.
Decentralized finance helps in sending Bitcoins to networks owned by Ethereum, such that Bitcoin can be directly utilized in its system. WBTC helps in earning interest on Bitcoin through lending through these platforms. WBTC standardizes the use of Bitcoin to the ERC20 format through smart contracts that can integrate Bitcoin transfers.
Prediction markets are contracts that are contingent on the occurrence of events in the future. These contracts are like bets on uncertain events. There are many kinds of prediction markets based on scale. It is a fact that their efficacy depends on their data and the number of individual participants. Prediction markets are susceptible to a combination of political, economic, and cultural factors. Therefore, the aid of data analytics and artificial intelligence is necessary.
Smart contracts are necessary to replace intermediaries such as banks. All decentralized lending platforms play this role and serve crypto loans. Through lending platforms, users can make money off interest for lending out money. Some platforms set the interest rate algorithmically, such that there is a higher demand to borrow a cryptocurrency.
Also Read- Possible Consequences of Cryptos Becoming Official Currency
Decentralized finance has a promising future. It has the potential to disrupt the monopoly of centralized finance. Through its applications, it can indeed break free of the financial limitations of many people and pave their way toward financial freedom. There is no doubt that with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, the mainstreaming of decentralized finance will soon become a reality everywhere. Once that becomes a reality, problems such as financial inequality may considerably reduced.