Blockchain learns to walk: Decentralised Finance
· Blockchain mania in 2018 and subsequent crash has left “blockchain” a much maligned term
· In the meantime Decentralised Finance has been flourishing and it’s a perfect fit for blockchain technology — is this a species of killer apps which will catapult blockchain into the mainstream for good?
· How to upskill yourself and/or get a front row seat: Explorer guide
Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto and Ethereum became household names after blockchain sidled onto the world stage in 2018. In those days, your typical millennial would sometimes receive a sudden and, well, unfair demand to explain to a family member/co-worker what Bitcoin is and why blockchain was a gamechanger.
Manicured beard glistening, latte in hand and mind teetering towards panic, we would do our level best and, really, you should not have expected any more from us as our hapless audience wandered off slightly more confused than before.
While greed drove interest in cryptocurrencies to soaring prices, fear delivered the downfall when the bubble burst. Blockchain was booed off the main stage and the world’s focus has shifted away from blockchain and onto other things (hint: opportunity).
Today’s blockchain dictum reads as follows:
“Yes, blockchain technology has potential but the boffins first need to solve potentially unsolvable challenges before we can take it seriously” (Society c. 2020)
Mentioning “blockchain” in a start-up pitch or internal memo is a fantastic way to be taken less seriously in 2020.
And then this happened…
A special creation is spreading its roots through the internet and creating the pathways for value to flow.
The edges of blockchain technology and its market fit were almost violently discovered post-2018. Those start-ups, engineers and thought leaders still active post-2018 have slowly made progress in one particular area and, very recently towards the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, this area has blossomed exponentially.
Allow me to introduce the concept of Decentralised Finance.
Decentralised finance is a highly efficient and wonderfully creative global monetary system, replete with financial services, integrated into the internet.
Imagine you could take a $10 note out of your wallet and drop it straight into your favourite stock and then take out another $20 note and drop that into a fixed deposit account. In the world of Decentralised Finance, your browser becomes your wallet and its literally as easy as dropping a $10 note to invest in the financial services options available to you.
Really though the best way to “get it” and experience that aha moment is to commit as little as $7 of your personal hoard and interact with it directly. Luckily for you I have written up a list of steps you can follow to become a participant in this new global monetary system here.
Beard glistening (full disclosure my beard is patchy at best but it identifies as a full beard so just leave it alone okay) and black coffee (we’re vegan now) placed by my laptop, in this series of articles I will explain what Decentralised Finance is, why it is charming and how you can become an early adopter.
This is part 1, a brief intro, of a series of weekly articles where I take you on a fantastical journey into the Decentralised Finance space. So join me, fledgling crypto zombies, in unlocking the mysteries of the next financial frontier.
Next up is part 2 — a deep dive into the first manifestation of Decentralised Finance called “DeFi”.
