Over the last decade, blockchain technology has revolutionized the financial sector as we know it, leading to the introduction of new applications and innovative concepts. Among these innovations are DeFi protocols, whose popularity and adoption has increased astonishingly.
What is DeFi?
DeFi, short for Decentralized Finance, refers to financial apps built using smart contracts. These are automated, legally binding contracts that can be executed without the help of third parties. Anyone with an internet connection can use smart contracts to conduct financial transactions and perform various other tasks.
DeFi, like cryptocurrencies, is based on blockchain technology and consists of peer-to-peer protocols and apps built on blockchain networks. It was designed as an alternative solution to minimize the need for a central authority or third party, thereby enabling financial systems accessible to everyone.
In a traditional financial system, banks and third-party providers enable and control the flow of money. DeFi was therefore created to enable financial transfers securely and without the interference of central authorities or other third parties, along with the associated costs, privacy concerns and occasionally longer processing times.
In recent years, DeFi has evolved into a fully functional ecosystem with useful apps and protocols that benefit millions of people.
DeFi protocols explained
DeFi protocols are autonomous programs consisting of standards, codes and procedures that govern decentralized finance applications to improve the processes used in traditional finance. A DeFi protocol can also be referred to as a set of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps) based on blockchain technology, typically Ethereum.
These protocols offer a variety of financial services including asset borrowing and lending, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), stablecoins, yield farming, asset management, insurance, and more. These protocols use smart contracts to conduct transactions, comply with laws, and distribute rewards. They are created to function autonomously. In addition to providing lending options, DeFi also provides liquidity between different blockchains and produces on-chain assets such as stocks and shares to promote cryptocurrency adoption.
Top 8 DeFi Protocols in 2023
1. Spirit
One of the leading DeFi protocols in 2023 is Aave, one of the largest lending and borrowing protocols on the web3. With this protocol, cryptocurrency owners have the opportunity to pledge various tokens from various major blockchains in exchange for a passive dividend or as collateral for borrowing other digital assets.
For those who have accumulated cryptocurrencies and held them for a long period of time, Aave offers a service where investors can not only receive a return, but also borrow money to use for daily expenses or for reinvestment.
At Aave, all loans are over-collateralized due to the platform’s highly secure borrowing process.
2. Uniswap
Users can exchange Ethereum tokens and set up a market for each ERC20 token through Uniswap, a decentralized protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain. After its launch in November 2018, Uniswap has become one of the most prominent decentralized exchanges in the DeFi market.
Uniswap is one of the oldest Ethereum DEXs and one of the first to challenge financial institutions by introducing and leveraging the automated market maker approach, allowing users to trade coins, earn incentives and add their own tokens. This approach enables frictionless trading, and the AMM concept as a whole relies on users contributing tokens to a liquidity pool. In return, these market makers receive a portion of the protocol fees as compensation for their liquidity provision.
As of September 2020, Uniswap offered 15% of its supply to previous users by introducing the “Universal Basic Income” program, which added additional liquidity to certain pools and allowed users to earn UNI, the native token.
3. Saucer swap
SaucerSwap is a decentralized exchange that uses the Hedera Smart Contract Service (HSCS) to integrate Solidity Smart Contracts with the Hedera Token Service (HTS). The smart contracts are based on the automated market maker protocol.
Participants using this protocol are rewarded for contributing (staking) their tokens to increase the project’s liquidity and receive incentives.
4th curve
Curve is a blockchain technology that operates an automated market-making service with a focus on stablecoins.
Built on Ethereum’s blockchain, this protocol acts as a trading platform that does not use a central order book, but instead offers cryptocurrency users the ability to collect fees on their assets while allowing traders to buy and sell these assets at potentially better prices.
Unlike other protocols, Curve stands out in that its main goal is to serve as a market for stablecoins such as Maker and USDT, which track the value of US dollars, as well as wBTC and renBTC, which monitor the value of Bitcoin.
5. Optimism (OP)
Optimism is a Layer 2 protocol that allows Ethereum users to complete transactions on the Ethereum network faster and at a lower cost. Optimism achieves this through a mechanism known as “Optimistic Rollups”. Additionally, the OP token, available for purchase or sale on Coinbase and other exchanges, is used for governance.
The main feature of this protocol is that it offers the same level of security as Layer 1 of Ethereum, but with the ability to process a large number of transactions at a minimal cost. OP token holders also have access to a wide range of use cases as the ecosystem has over 30 existing protocols.
NFT tools, DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and a range of trading tools are examples of dApps found in the Optimism ecosystem. The protocol is cited by digital finance experts at (https://7bitcoins.com/) as one of the best DeFi projects available because it allows DeFi users to fully leverage their cryptocurrency holdings.
6. Pax Gold (PAXG)
The Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism is used to secure the PAXG protocol, which is entirely based on the Ethereum blockchain. But PAXG is not limited to Ethereum and can also be launched on other blockchains.
Pax Gold features an ERC-20 token that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, is tradable on a variety of exchanges and has established itself as a convenient option for traders to start investing in gold.
The currency and protocol were created to allow investors to purchase small amounts of gold via cryptocurrency, eliminating minimum purchase limits for the commodity.
7. 0x protocol
Peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of Ethereum-based assets is enabled by the 0x protocol. The protocol created by 0x Labs is an important DeFi building component and an open standard for any developer needing exchanges. 0x offers a decentralized global P2P order book (0x Mesh), secure, audited smart contracts, developer tools built for the 0x ecosystem, and an API that simplifies access to aggregated liquidity provided by an increasing number of exchange networks is generated.
The protocol itself is not a decentralized exchange, but it facilitates the development of decentralized exchanges that can be used in various marketplaces such as gaming and finance, allowing users to trade tokens and assets.
The main goal of 0x Labs is to build the infrastructure required for the evolving cryptocurrency economy and to establish markets that have not yet been able to be tapped.
8. Connection
Compound, a decentralized blockchain-based protocol, allows you to borrow and borrow cryptocurrencies and participate in the governance of the protocol by purchasing the native COMP token.
The Compound protocol shares some similarities with other decentralized lending protocols that use crypto assets as collateral for borrowing additional crypto assets, but also has a special feature or feature that allows the tokenization of assets locked in the system using COMP- Tokens enabled.
Essentially, COMP tokens or cTokens are ERC-20 tokens that serve as a user’s representation of funds on the Compound blockchain. The corresponding number of cTokens will be issued in exchange for your ETH or another ERC-20 token such as USDC. This would automatically earn you interest on the tokens.
DeFi protocols are an incredible tool that has helped decentralized finance as an industry. DeFi has established various financial markets, including decentralized lending, asset management, yield farming, and almost all other aspects of the DeFi market.
As the industry evolves and evolves, we will inevitably see financial applications that operate securely, trustlessly, and in a decentralized manner, taking over and competing with traditional financial systems.
/// ENDS
Word Count: 1395
Learn Crypto Trading, Yield Farms, Income strategies and more at CrytoAnswers
https://nov.link/cryptoanswers
Comments are closed.