Why DeFi is not a Ponzi Scheme
parthchopra.substack.com
parthchopra.substack.com
Ethereum (and whatever other chains support smart contracts) literally only exist as a platform upon which to build Ponzi schemes.
Sorry but I can't do anything with DeFi. It's just juggling more crypto around. I've had multiple tell me I can get a loan on it but this is just False for any practical reason. I can't say get a loan for a car and use the car itself as collateral like I can do at literally any bank. I have to put up 100% of collateral in crypto. It blows my mind that there are people on this site who are proponents of DeFi in its current form.
But I agree that if it's always overcollateralized then there is obviously much less utility created (though definitely some - similar to how you can get a loan against your home).
The project mentioned, Goldfinch, has already distributed 4.5M in uncollateralized loans to emerging markets using DeFi rails and liquidity already (https://medium.com/goldfinch-fi/goldfinch-raises-11m-from-an...). My 2c is that it's a sign of what's to come.
Yeah but also the collateral always has to be cryptocurrency right?
But that's starting to change (https://centrifuge.io/) - still a long way to go ofc. I also know people who have done non-crypto collateral or just completely unsecured lending, but it does involve trust that is off-chain (legal contract, know the person, etc). I think that's a fine stepping stone (and may end up being necessary) as people figure out how to do everything on-chain and in decentralized ways (ex. using on-chain reputation)
You have a lot of money being governed by publicly available code with irreversible transactions. There have been a number of exploits in the past and there's no reason why they would stop. Why do people put their money in a system where everyone is a target and a bug can bring their entire balance to zero with no way to reverse it?
Imo smart contract engineering has much more in common with firmware, hardware, etc. than the mindset a typical React/web2 engineer might have (i.e. try things and iterate). I think that point is not talked about enough.
DeFi (or “decentralized finance”) is an umbrella term for financial services on public blockchains, primarily Ethereum. . . . DeFi takes the basic premise of Bitcoin — digital money — and expands on it, creating an entire digital alternative to Wall Street, but without all the associated costs (think office towers, trading floors, banker salaries). This has the potential to create more open, free, and fair financial markets that are accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
You know, before emojis we had these things called smilies, which are composed of several different characters to express some intent. It works like this ;) - aka wink wink, I'm not serious.