Understanding DeFi Applications in the Post-Fintech Revolution

<p>Fintech, defined as technologies that aim to empower the masses by ubiquitizing financial services, has failed. In a world of unprecedented wealth inequality, it has only served to enrich the already powerful – bankers, politicians, and insiders. Meanwhile, ordinary people are alienated, with no hope for their financial futures.</p> <p>Those fortunate enough to participate in the system see their standard of living deteriorate as a result of stagnant wages and rising prices. Even first-world necessities like stable pay and housing are distant privileges for the vast majority of the world's population, who lack any access to financial services at all.</p> <p>It is obvious that a new system is required, one free of centralised control and power, one in which people control their own financial futures.</p> <p>The Revolution in DeFi</p> <p>DeFi, or Decentralised Finance, is a new financial system being built by decentralised networks of individuals who have decided to provide financial services to one another directly.</p> <p>DeFi platforms can operate trustlessly thanks to cryptocurrency technologies such as blockchains and smart contracts, which enforce financial agreements through code rather than centralised authorities such as banks or middlemen such as escrow agencies. Because of their lack of trustworthiness, DeFi platforms can provide more innovative and equitable financial services to all:</p> <p>* Staking is the act of locking up one's tokens to validate transactions in a cryptocurrency network, in exchange for a reward that typically ranges between 5% and 15% APR, which is significantly higher than the 0.01 percent APR provided by traditional savings accounts.</p> <p>* Decentralised exchanges enable users to buy cryptocurrencies anonymously. Users can also purchase tokenised shares of stock on decentralised exchanges built with the most recent DeFi protocols.</p> <p>* Users provide liquidity for decentralised exchanges. Users can do so by depositing pairs of tokens that can be used to perform sw