Sunday,
July 25, 2021/07:30AM / by Olubusola and Oluwapelumi of AELEX/
Header Image Credit: AELEX
Introduction
There are currently
over 4000 (four thousand) cryptocurrencies in circulation
and about 51,200,000 (fifty-one million, two hundred thousand) active traders
of cryptocurrency around the world.
With the proliferation of cryptocurrency and the associated technology that
backs it, disruptors and innovators have begun to take advantage of the multifunctional
nature of cryptocurrency
and have created products that could change or disrupt traditional banking and
finance. Enter Decentralised Finance or ‘DeFi’ for short.
DeFi refers
to an emerging area of finance where financial products are offered to
customers using blockchain technology such as smart contracts, limiting
reliance on the traditional institutional nature of finance where financial
products and services are offered by banks and other financial institutions.
When
compared to the traditional or centralised financial industry, DeFi is still a
small drop in a big pond. However, DeFi products or protocols have started
growing rapidly and are attaining monumental gains. In 2019, only USD$275,000,000
(Two Hundred and Seventy-Five Million Dollars) worth of cryptocurrency was locked
in the DeFi economy.
By February 2020, that number grew to USD$1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars)
and by January 2021, over USD$40,000,000,000 (Forty Billion Dollars) worth of cryptocurrency
has been used on decentralised financial products.
So, with
this rapid growth of decentralised financial products, it is important to
consider whether DeFi as an alternative financial infrastructure is
complementary or an adversarial to traditional financial and banking systems.
In this
article, we will attempt to answer this question by breaking down what DeFi is,
highlighting some DeFi products, examine the advantages and disadvantages of
DeFi, and conclude with our opinion on the future of DeFi.
Understanding Decentralised Finance
Dr. Usman W.
Chohan, an international economist-academic, describes decentralised finance as
“…an
experimental form of financial praxis that is removed from dependence on
centralized financial intermediaries, which in this context might include
banks, exchanges and brokerages. As such, DeFi purports to disintermediate
financial activity from the traditional mechanisms of finance, and it does so
through the use of a blockchain substitutive architecture.“
In a
nutshell, DeFi is a movement that aims to create an open-source and transparent
financial service ecosystem that is available to everyone and operates without
any central authority such as banks or brokers. The users maintain full control
over their assets and interact with this ecosystem through peer-to-peer (P2P)
applications that are decentralised “Dapps”.
Dapps are used
by DeFi protocols or products customers to interact which each other and are
powered by ‘Smart Contracts’, programs which run like contracts when
predetermined conditions are met and are stored on a blockchain. Smart
Contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement being
directly written into lines of code, such that when the pre-agreed conditions
are met, the smart contract enforces performance of the relevant terms of the
agreement. The code and the agreements contained therein exist on a blockchain
network. The code controls the execution, and the transactions are trackable
and irreversible.
Ethereum.org
defines a Dapp as an application built on a decentralized network (blockchain)
that combines a smart contract and a frontend user interface. Therefore, the layers of a DeFi product are
made up of the backend (Smart Contract) which contains the terms and conditions
embedded in the line of code and the frontend (Dapp) which the users interact
with. The Dapp can be programmed to carry out various functions to enhance the
user experience like tools to compare and rate services, allow users to perform
otherwise complex tasks by connecting to several protocols simultaneously, and
combine relevant information in a clear and concise manner.
Dapps are how
customers access DeFi products. For example, Luffy may be looking to get a loan
and instead of going to a bank, he could decide to log on to a Dapp which
compares and rates the different services on offer. Upon selecting one of the
offers, Luffy enters a Smart Contract and accordingly, the Dapp stipulates the
conditions required of Luffy for disbursement of funds. Once Luffy fulfils
these conditions, the disbursement term of the Smart Contract is executed, and the
loan amount is disbursed to Luffy (usually in cryptocurrency) instantly and
parties are bound by the Smart Contract.
The DeFi product,
a loan in the example above, may also be secured by collateral. Subject to the
terms of the Smart Contract, collateral may be deposited in an escrow account (off-chain
collateral) or the collateral is deposited on the native blockchain the Dapp is
built on usually in the form of the cryptocurrency native to the blockchain
(on-chain collateral). In some cases, there may be no collateral requirement at
all.
The
hypothetical loan transaction is just one of the many financial
services/products available via DeFi. In the next section, we will explore a
few DeFi products.
Decentralised Finance – Financial Services and Products
Though there
are several ways DeFi protocols are being used today, we will highlight the most
prominent use cases.
Stablecoins
Stablecoins
are the most popular use cases of DeFi protocols around the world because
crypto holders, traders and even Whales (individuals who own a large amount of
a particular cryptocurrency) can hedge against the volatility of the prices of
cryptocurrency by buying digital assets that are pegged against fiat currency
(money issued by a government and declared as legal tender) or commodities.
Stablecoins are
digital assets tied to a stable asset such as fiat currency or a commodity like
gold. They tend to stay stable for longer periods of time than those that are non-asset
backed e.g., Bitcoin (“BTC”) or Ethereum (“ETH”). The entity issuing the
stablecoin usually sets up a “reserve” where it securely stores the asset
backing the stablecoin
and theoretically, the holder of the stablecoin can redeem one unit of the
stable coin for one unit of the asset that backs it i.e., 1USD Coin (“USDC”)
for $1.
There are also
some complex forms of stablecoins backed by other stablecoins. For example, the
NGN Token (“NGNT”) is a collateral-backed digital currency issued by Token Mint
that is pegged to the value of the Naira and is not volatile. In addition to
being pegged to the value of the Naira, NGNT is also backed by USDC. USDC is
issued by regulated financial institutions in the United States, and backed by
fully reserved assets, and redeemable on a 1:1 basis for US Dollars.
Therefore, a holder of NGNT, can redeem the USDC equivalent of NGNT he holds and
trade it in for US Dollars.
However,
criticism of stablecoin as a DeFi product remain. Critics argue that stablecoins
are only as stable as the asset backing them; thus, they are still affected by
the volatility of the underlying asset.
They also believe that there is a counterparty risk investor need to note as
most stablecoin issuers do not specify where they store their ‘reserves’ and
how much value is actually stored. In instances where the value of the reserves
of the issuer is less than the value of the stable coin issued, this impacts
the ability of investors to redeem their stablecoin for the underlying asset.
Despite
these criticisms, stablecoins remain one of the more popular DeFi products and are
even being used in countries where their fiat-based currencies are losing value,
e.g. in Brazil where hyperinflation, poor economic factors and a host of other
issues, has caused a crash in the value of the Brazilian Real.
Now, most of its citizens are using Tether Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the Dollar,
to carry out transactions and have more stable savings.
Borrowing
& Lending
Another
popular use of DeFi is borrowing and lending of assets or money. There are two
variations of the loan products, either ‘Peer-to-Peer’, meaning a situation
where a borrower borrows directly from a specific lender, or ‘Pool-Based’,
where lenders provide funds to a pool managed by the Dapp that borrowers can
borrow from (this is the most common variant).
One of the perks on the borrower’s side when considering a DeFi loan is that
there is little to no due diligence or credit checks like you would have when
accessing a loan from a traditional financial institution like a bank.
The
Decentralised lending works without either party having to identify themselves
and there are typically no credit checks or investigations into whether the
debt profile of a borrower will deter the lender from giving out the loan. So how do the loans work? As mentioned
above, Pool-Based loans are the most common variant of DeFi loans because of
the incentive it offers to its users.
Simply, a
typical Pool-Based loan works by users pooling their assets or cryptocurrency
and distributing to borrowers according to the terms of the loan written into
the Smart Contract. Typical loan terms written into the Smart Contract include:
Principal repayments and Interest payments – the underlying Smart
Contracts of these loan pools are programmed to distribute the principal
deposited plus the interest to each investor.
After the agreed term of the loan, the DeFi lending platform is instructed by the
Smart Contract to deduct the principal sum and interest from the borrower’s
cryptocurrency wallets that have been linked to the Dapp (typically one of the
conditions precedents to disbursement). The principal repayment and interest
payment will then be shared to the lenders by the Dapp pro-rata their
contribution to the pool.
Security – the Smart Contract will
require a collateral deposit by the borrower and this collateral may either be
required to have more value than the cryptocurrency being granted as a loan from
the pool or may be equal to the value of the assets they intend to borrow.
Collateral may take the form of cryptocurrency or fiat currency, subject to the
terms of the Smart Contract. In the event of default by the borrower, the
collateral will be available for use to remedy the default. Borrowers
can access DeFi loan platforms by simply visiting any DeFi platform that offers
loans. Potential borrowers are advised to read through the Terms and Conditions
and the collateral requirements before applying for the loan.
In addition, where the collateral
is a cryptocurrency, one of the terms set include that where the market value
of the cryptocurrency drops below a certain price point set by the pool, it
will be liquidated and shared among the individuals that deposited into the
pool and the borrower may keep the borrowed asset as a result.
So, for
example, if you want to take a loan of 1 BTC from a pool, you have to deposit
the cash equivalent of 1BTC or another cryptocurrency or asset as collateral
into a cryptocurrency wallet and link it to the DeFi platform built on the same
blockchain technology as the Smart Contract.
Once the collateral is deposited, the borrower receives 1 BTC and after a few
months in accordance with the terms of the Smart Contract, the borrower returns
the 1BTC with interest and then the Smart Contract releases the collateral to the
borrower. The interest is shared among the investors and the loan transaction
has ended. On the other end, where the borrower defaults on its payment obligations,
the collateral deposited in the vault – the equivalent of 1 BTC – is released
and used to remedy the default – also executed automatically by the Smart
Contract.
One distinct
attraction of DeFi is limited obligations imposed on the borrower, as may be
gleaned from the above. For example, there are no obligations limiting the
borrower from accessing further loans as you would find in traditional loans
with banks, there are no required financial covenants to be maintained by
corporate borrowers nor are their clauses limiting its business such as
material change and change of control clauses.
DeFi loans
are also experimenting with a concept called ‘Flash Loans’. Flash loans
work on the basis that the loan is taken out and paid back in the same
transaction.
Creators of flash loans highlight how the cryptocurrency borrowed may be sold
on an exchange or platform that has attached a higher price to it so that the borrower
of the flash loan makes an instant profit. If the loan cannot be paid back
within minutes, the funds revertto the lender or pool. For example, if Mr A
gets 1 ETH from a pool that values it at USD$200 (Two Hundred Dollars) and
sells it on an exchange for USD$220 (Two Hundred and Twenty Dollars) or trades
the asset on a P2P Platform for USD$220, Mr A makes a $20 profit and can pay
back the value of the loan (USD$200) to the pool, or can buy 1ETH at USD$200
and give it back to the pool. If the transaction is not completed within the short
time frame, it fails.
To curtail the risk of the flash loan failing within the short time frame, the
cryptocurrency usually stays in the lenders wallet until the borrower has
completed the terms of the flash loan. There is no collateral deposited during
a flash loan transaction and flash loan enthusiasts hope that it can be
developed to have more use casesfor short sellers and arbitrage traders.
Yield Farming
One of the
criticisms of cryptocurrency as an investment class is that it does not yield
interest as it sits in a wallet. However, the soaring prices of cryptocurrency
meant holders were not particularly bothered about this. That was until the ‘Dip’ happened.
With Bitcoin crashing from an all-time high of USD$65,000 (Sixty-Five Thousand Dollars)
to USD$37,000 (Thirty-Seven Thousand Dollars), and other coins following suit
(Ethereum dipped by half of its market price), traders and holders of
cryptocurrency are looking to hedge against the volatility of cryptocurrencies
and gain interest on their investment while holding their cryptocurrencies
despite the price movements (‘Hodling’ as popularly termed).
DeFi products
are offering them an opportunity for passive returns on their assets through yields
– “Yield Farming”.
By depositing stablecoins (defined below) into a pool administered by the Dapp,
investors will be rewarded for their deposits with annual returns called Annual
Percentage Yields (“APY”).
Another interesting factor to Yield Farming is that in addition to the expected
APY, some DeFi protocols offer a new Token as an additional incentive.
If the new token received by the investors begins to gain traction in the
market, they can sell it and make more profit.
As peculiar
as it sounds, the incentive creates a growth loop for the DeFi protocols and its
investors. Getting more people to use the protocol will increase the value of
the native token the protocol offers, and investors may be attracted to use the
protocol and “farm” to get the token.
However,
Yield Farming has been criticised by stakeholders as a “pump-and-dump” scheme as
the coins can easily lose their value if people decide to stop using the DeFi
protocol it is attached to. There is also a possibility that Whales can use it
to manipulate the price of the tokens they own by lending some to a pool and
then using another account to borrow the cryptocurrency, artificially driving
up demand, which will in turn affect the price of the token.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Decentralised
Finance
Since the global
financial crisis of 2007/2008 where investors were left with investments that
had lost significant value and rising debt, faith in traditional financial
institutions have been shaken. Citizens of countries with declining economies,
like Venezuela and Zimbabwe also hold their monetary authorities responsible for
the monetary policies they have implemented which they believe are not
economically viable. These are one of the many reasons why cryptocurrency
enthusiasts and retail investors believe decentralised finance is the future of
finance by decentring central authorities such as central banks and middlemen such
as banks and other financial institutions, and empowering everyday people via
peer-to-peer exchanges.
Advantages
of Decentralised Finance
Some of the
advantages include:
- Speed: DeFi protocols and products are processed quickly; for
example, loan requests are processed timeously considering the promptness of blockchain-based
transactions. This contrasts with bank loans which may take days or even weeks
for approval.
- Accessible and permissionless: DeFi products offered on
blockchain technology fosters access to finance as users are not limited by
location or credit history. Retail investors can access financial products or
services through DeFi, provided they meet the terms of the Smart Contract. There
are also no limits on the value that may be available users as opposed to
traditional financial institutions who are subject to regulatory limits. For
example, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 provides that a
commercial bank cannot, without the prior written approval of the Central Bank
of Nigeria (“CBN”), grant to any person any loan or credit facility such that
the total value of the liability in respect of that person exceeds 20% of the
bank’s shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.
- Transparency: blockchain transactions
are transparent as you can trace the wallet IDs of contract parties, and
execution and completion time of transactions are recorded on the network. In
addition, transactions conducted on them are permanent and cannot be altered.
Once a financial transaction or Smart Contract has been recorded onto a
blockchain, its terms are visible to participants on the blockchain network and
become immutable. This creates some form of security with DeFi financial
products as assets or transaction records cannot be altered or fraudulently
manipulated.
In addition, as the terms of the Smart Contract are written as codes on the
blockchain, this limits disputes on interpretation of contract terms.
As seen
above, DeFi has great benefits but there are also inherent risks.
Disadvantages
of Decentralised Finance
- Hackers: Hackers are a major security risk for a blockchain technology
network. While it is hard to hack blockchain technology, it is not impossible. Since
2011, over USD$11,000,000,000 (Eleven Billion Dollars) worth of cryptocurrency
has been stolen
from crypto wallets that were hacked. - Strict Terms: the financial terms of Smart Contracts are
typically stringent as a scale against the limited requirements. Take De-Fi
loans where the collateral required is typically set to be equal in value (or
more) to the loan requested. Such stringent financial terms are limiting with
respect to persons who can realistically access the DeFi products. - Fakes: There have been instances where scammers have used popular Dapps
to list fake cryptocurrencies labelled as tokens that can be used to access
DeFi protocols.
Investors have to be careful in choosing the digital assets they decide to
invest in, and retail investors may not appreciate the due diligence required. - Investor Protection: DeFi services, products,
and technology, are by their very nature, typically outside regulatory
oversight. Thus, the investor protection provisions that regulated financial
institutions are subject to may not apply to Dapps, DeFi protocols or issuers.
Without these investor protection requirements, consumers and their investments
are subject to the whims of the issuers of these financial products. As
highlighted earlier, there is a conspicuous counterparty risk with De-Fi
products. For example, if an issuer pulls the plug on a Dapp or blockchain
technology, that could put investors funds or any collateral that have been
deposited in peril.
There are
definite pros and cons to De-Fi that requires serious consideration for anyone
looking to explore De-Fi products or services. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are
ever optimistic of decentralised finance as the future of finance in terms of
the delivery of financial products and services and the different innovative
solutions that may result from block chain technology.
Is Decentralised Finance the Future of Finance?
According to
Benedikt Christian Eikmanns (Senior Consultant at the strategy consultancy
Roland Berger and doctoral candidate (PhD) at the Technical University of
Munich), Prof. Dr. Isabell Welpe, (full professor (W3) at the Technical
University of Munich, head of the Chair for Strategy and Organization, co-founder
of the TUM blockchain center), and Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner (founder of
the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (FSBC));
“For the
first time in history, a financial system is developing without intermediaries
at a large scale. So far, DeFi applications cannot compete in terms of
security, speed, and ease of use with traditional finance solutions yet. But
DeFi has produced real, working applications that have already managed to
attract billions of capitals. Those resources will be used to develop more
competitive and user-friendly applications in the future.”
This is a
succinct view of the widely held position on the future of DeFi – the future is
bright! In Nigeria today, platforms like Xend Finance are leveraging on DeFi to
offer financial products to credit unions, trade unions and individuals. Credit
unions provide capital and invest on the Xend Finance platform. The unions are
given the $XEND token to hold and their capital is invested in other DeFi
pools. At the end of the savings period, the return on their investment is
given to a member of the credit union for that month or period.
In terms of
the future of DeFi in Nigeria, it is important to recognise that there are
currently discordant approaches from regulators in the financial sector
regarding cryptocurrency, which may impact the ease of operating Dapps and
accessing DeFi products. On the one hand, the CBN has prohibited banks and
other financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrency and providing
payment services to cryptocurrency exchanges and further directed financial
institutions to close the accounts of customers who operate cryptocurrency
exchanges within their system. On the other hand, Nigeria’s Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in 2020, released its ‘Statement on Digital Assets,
their Classification and Treatment’, which set out how SEC would regulate
crypto assets – signifying SEC’s acceptance of cryptocurrency. While exchanges
have found a work around these regulatory limits by facilitating peer-to-peer
trades, these fragmented approach by the Nigerian regulators may leave
investors wary of investing funds in a finance product whose infrastructure is
based on blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Though DeFi is
still a developing area of finance, one cannot underestimate its attractiveness
to investors, whether institutional, high-net worth or retail, especially with
respect to the different innovative solutions on offer. We also opine that it
will be complementary to traditional financial services as innovation
challenges the way traditional banks and financial institutions operate and
offer their services.
As more
money is being invested into the development of Dapps and De-Fi protocols, DeFi
will become more efficient, easier to use and offer various iterations of
financial products which will financially assist individuals and even countries.
The future of finance is decentralised and DeFi will only continue to grow.
Footnotes
6.
Usman
W. Chohan, MBA, PhD, 2021, Decentralized finance (DeFi): an emergent
alternative financial architecture, Discussion Paper Series: Notes on the 21st
Century, Critical Blockchain Research Initiative.
7.
“The
Complete Beginner’s Guide to Decentralized Finance (DeFi)” by Binance Academy,
accessed 2 June 2021. https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/the-complete-beginners-guide-to-decentralized-finance-defi.
8.
“Smart
Contracts” by Jake Frankenfield, reviewed by Erika Rasure for Investopedia,
accessed 2 June 2021. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/smart-contracts.asp.
9.
“INTRODUCTION
TO DAPPS” by Ethereum, accessed 2 June 2021. https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/dapps/.
10. Federal Reserve Bank of St.
Louis Review, Second Quarter 2021, 103(2), pp. 153-74. https://doi.org/10.20955/r.103.153-74.
11. Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis Review, Second Quarter 2021, 103(2), pp. 153-74. https://doi.org/10.20955/r.103.153-74.
12. “What Are Stablecoins?” by Alyssa Hertig for
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13. “NGNT by Token Mint” by Zino for Buycoins
Africa, accessed 3 June 2021. http://help.buycoins.africa/article/us2z1f3p68-ngnt-by-token-mint.
14. “Why Some Stablecoins Are
Dangerous” by Market Mad House on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE, accessed 3 June 2021. https://medium.com/the-capital/why-stablecoins-are-dangerous-and-are-swiss-franc-stablecoins-safe-d2b971eba8e4.
15. “Stablecoins: Understanding
Counterparty Risk” by Team Gemini, accessed 3 June 2021. https://www.gemini.com/blog/stablecoins-understanding-counterparty-risk.
16. “Exchange rate imbalance
between the Brazilian real and the dollar will persist in 2021, say analysts”
by Latin America Business Stories, accessed 3 June 2021. https://labsnews.com/en/articles/economy/exchange-rate-imbalance-between-the-brazilian-real-and-the-dollar-will-persist-in-2021-say-analysts/.
17. “Brazil’s Ailing Economy
Is Helping Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins Find Traction” by Leigh Cuen for Coindesk,
accessed 3 June 2021. https://www.coindesk.com/brazil-real-usd-stablecoin-growth-usdt-dai-busd.
18. “Decentralized finance
(DeFi)” by Ethereum.org, accessed 2 June 2021. https://ethereum.org/en/defi/#what-is-defi.
19. “Decentralized finance
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20. “What are Defi Loans?” by
Matt Hussey for Decrypt, accessed 2 June 2021.
https://decrypt.co/resources/what-are-defi-loans-ethereum-maker-aave-explained-learn.
21. “DeFi Loans” by DeFi Rate,
accessed 23 June 2021. https://defirate.com/loan/. “HOW DOES DEFI LENDING
WORK?” by Akash Takyar for LeewayHertz, accessed 23 Jun 2021. https://www.leewayhertz.com/how-defi-lending-works/.
22. ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. “DeFi Loans” by DeFi Rate,
accessed 23 June 2021. https://defirate.com/loan/.
25. “Decentralized finance (DeFi)” by Ethereum.org,
accessed 2 June 2021. https://ethereum.org/en/defi/#what-is-defi.
26. “Decentralized finance (DeFi)” by Ethereum.org,
accessed 2 June 2021. https://ethereum.org/en/defi/#what-is-defi.
27. Aave Protocol, Accessed 2
June 2021 https://aave.com/flash-loans/.
28. “Crypto Price Crash: Why Ethereum Could Soon
Overtake Bitcoin” by Billy Bambrough for Forbes, accessed 2 June 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2021/05/31/crypto-price-crash-why-ethereum-could-eventually-overtake-bitcoin/?sh=4140752f13e3.
29. “What Happens When Cryptocurrencies Earn
Interest?” by Marco Di Maggio, Nicholas Platias, Wenyao Sha, and Nicolas
Andreoulis for Harvard Business Review, accessed 2 June 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/02/what-happens-when-cryptocurrencies-earn-interest.
30. “Annual Percentage Yield (APY)” by James Chen,
reviewed by Margaret James for Investopedia, accessed 2 June 2021. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/apy.asp.
31. “What Happens When Cryptocurrencies Earn
Interest?” by Marco Di Maggio, Nicholas Platias, Wenyao Sha, and Nicolas
Andreoulis for Harvard Business Review, accessed 2 June 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/02/what-happens-when-cryptocurrencies-earn-interest.
32. What’s ‘Yield Farming’?
(And How Do You Grow Crypto?)” by The Washignton Post, accessed 2 June 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/whats-yield-farming-and-how-do-you-grow-crypto/2020/07/25/b0fc4662-ce5d-11ea-99b0-8426e26d203b_story.html.
33. “Decentralized Finance Is Building A New
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3 June 2021. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/defi-decentralized-finance/.
34.”Decentralised Finance” by Bird & Bird,
accessed 3 June 2021. https://www.twobirds.com/~/media/pdfs/in-focus/blockchain/blockchain-defi-briefing-note.pdf.
35. “Hackers have got their hands on $11 billion
in stolen cryptocurrency since 2011” by Stephanie Palmer-Derrien for
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36. “Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are
now getting hacked” by Mike Orcutt for MIT Technology Review, accessed 3 June
2021. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/19/239592/once-hailed-as-unhackable-blockchains-are-now-getting-hacked/.
37. “Decentralized Finance Is
Building A New Financial System” by E Napoletano and John Schmidt for Forbes
Advisor, accessed 3 June 2021. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/defi-decentralized-finance/.
38. “What is Decentralized
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39. “Decentralized Finance Will Change Your
Understanding Of Financial Systems” by Benedikt Christian Eikmanns, Prof. Dr.
Isabell Welpe, and Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner, for Forbes, accessed 3 June 2021.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/philippsandner/2021/02/22/decentralized-finance-will-change-your-understanding-of-financial-systems/?sh=175575d25b52.
40. Xend Finance, ver 1.1. Xend
Finance Litepaper The first DeFi Credit Union on Binance Smart Chain. https://xend.finance/XendFinanceLitePaper.pdf.
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