DeFi – Decentralized Finance

What does a fully functioning network with DeFi applications look like, and why is it important to assess? Garrette Furo of Cosmos explains.

A major Ethereum upgrade via London hard fork — which experts call a ‘seismic shift’ for the industry — is coming soon. Are ‘Ethereum killers’ doomed?

Ethereum is much more than a cryptocurrency, and it has already attracted huge interest among investors. What’s all the fuss about? Forkast.News explains.

Iron Finance, once a DeFi darling, went from billions to bust in a day. Should investors have seen the crash coming? How stable are algorithmic stablecoins?

Singapore-based decentralized exchange SynFutures has closed a $14 million series A round to bring crypto derivatives to new users around the world.

One of DeFi’s hottest trends, yield farming can bring riches but is not for crypto beginners or those who can’t afford to lose. Forkast.News explains why.

UNICEF Venture Fund is awarding up to $100,000 to blockchain startups, including India’s GovBlocks, in its latest funding round. Here are the other projects.

From Phillips auction house in Hong Kong to Art Fair Philippines, non-fungible tokens are redefining how Asia appreciates, buys and profits from art.

In collaboration with Wharton business school, WEF releases a toolkit for governments to consider the opportunities and risks of decentralized finance.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Thailand’s SEC tries to rein in DeFi via regulation. Will China’s future DCEP digital yuan offer smart contracts?

Thailand becomes one of the first governments to attempt DeFi regulation as India’s RBI clarifies that banking ban no longer exists.

Blockchain technology has massive data requirements, but the data can be difficult and costly to access. What are some of the solutions?

Breaking into occasional Mandarin at a Hong Kong conference, Ethereum’s visionary creator tells all — including why Ethereum 2.0 is taking so long.

New and innovative lenders are taking advantage of DeFi’s low costs to offer savings account interest rates that Main Street banks simply can’t match.

China’s miners prepare for migration and Hong Kong reacts to possible retail ban. Meanwhile a South Korean governor becomes a crypto influencer.

As mainstream finance embraces decentralized finance, neither it nor its younger challengers are likely to escape the evolutionary forces at work.

DeFi project Maple Finance is launching a $17 million lending pool to provide crypto startups with capital. Is this the start of a DeFi credit underwriting trend?

As Singapore builds Project Dunbar, a cross-border multiple-CBDC platform, its government dives into DeFi learning and ponders a CBDC for the masses.

Privately owned Chinese lender continues to target blockchain opportunities as it remains shut out of Beijing’s digital yuan project.

The final phase of Polkadot’s rollout — with parachains — just kicked off. Here’s what you need to know about Polkadot and parachains, and why it matters.

ADA price holds strong as investors shift to greener cryptocurrencies and Cardano smart contracts get set to launch blockchain into DeFi and NFTs.

It’s only a matter of time that digital currency ‘is going to overshadow all the other forms of money,’ says Neeraj Khandelwal of CoinDCX.

Asia’s crypto industry reacts to Tesla backtracking Bitcoin payments, while Animoca Brands raises US$88,888,888 in a new funding round.

Is it all those new Ethereum ETFs, rising demand for Ethereum from DeFi and NFTs, or lower gas fees fueling ETH’s price jump to yet another all-time high?

Since its launch by Conflux Network, a Shanghai-endorsed public chain, the East-West alliance has added over 30 members. Open DeFi now forms a DAO.

ConsenSys Codefi’s Q1 report on decentralized finance (DeFi) trends also saw 7x growth in stablecoins and predicts flashbots dominating the Ethereum network.

The days of ‘DeFi’ being an insider buzzword are over. But gas fees remain high and the road bumpy. Will Uniswap V3 and smartBCH change anything?

Fast-growing DeFi — still a largely unregulated industry — gives FATF an earful over its proposed ‘travel rule’ and expanded anti-money laundering rules.

As ETH prices hit a new ATH and continue to the moon, Ethereum’s visionary creator Vitalik Buterin becomes the youngest ever crypto billionaire.

As corporations plow billions into Bitcoin, a new business model involving decentralized finance is emerging for investors, says Alessio Quaglini of Hex Trust.

The ASEAN region has 290 million unbanked, and only 18% have access to credit. Here’s how decentralized finance (DeFi) can lift lives via mobile phones.

Is Binance Smart Chain’s meteoric rise from PancakeSwap and cryptocurrency SafeMoon sustainable, and is an ‘Ethereum killer’ now finally closer to reality?

Solana blockchain — a rising alternative to Ethereum for DeFi and NFTs — hit an all-time high this week while other cryptocurrencies stagnated. How come?

China’s internet giant Ant Group shares its OceanBase database for the e-CNY project. More investors try out DeFi platform PancakeSwap.

From institutions wanting carbon neutral Bitcoins, to tokenizing carbon credits — these are the latest green crypto trends in this region.

Macao jumps into digital yuan feasibility studies while South Korean banks make moves to curb kimchi premium arbitrage.

IMF warns issues warnings against crypto exchanges in the Philippines as China extends tests of its digital yuan to its free trade zone, Hainan Province.

XRP joins Wanchain’s DeFi ventures while Thai mobile bank explores the financial experiment. In Hong Kong, local police bust crypto scammers.

DeFi is making the global financial system more inclusive, but ‘teach more and punish less’ regulations are needed for greater adoption, a WEF panel said.

Traditional finance is costly and inefficient, and too many people are left out. Could decentralized finance (DeFi) be the answer?

Insurance policies for DeFi can cover losses from theft to smart contract issues. But do read the fine print — and know the industry is ‘self-regulated.’

Far from slowing down blockchain advances, the Covid pandemic may have accelerated the technology’s growth and adoption, blockchain experts say.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Bitcoin prices rise as BTC and ETH options expire. DeFi market steps up as Elon Musk says, ‘Don’t defy DeFi.’

Gen Z and millennials will transform investing. Here’s why one of their own — TRON CEO Justin Sun — thinks NFTs and DeFi are the wave of the future.

The siloed nature of many older blockchains is holding back DeFi’s potential, writes Sarah Kim of Terra. But help with greater interoperability is on the horizon.

Will DeFi replace centralized finance, and how might regulators respond? An all-star panel with leaders from SEC, WEF, ConsenSys and USDC explains.

GameStop’s drama is over, but it may signal big changes ahead for finance. Here’s why one former banker thinks ‘DeFi is going to absorb traditional finance.’

How will the rise in cryptocurrency drive banking and fintech innovation? Decentralized finance may offer a model, writes Christopher Brown of Zabo.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: DeFi under Fed study. Andrew Yang, Wyoming vie for crypto attention. Hong Kong and India edge toward crypto bans.

Modern financial markets still rely on slow and inefficient plumbing from a bygone era, writes Oi Yee Choo of iSTOX. Here is how blockchain offers a system upgrade.

Plasm Network, a leading DApps hub on Polkadot and first parachain on its Rococo testnet, secures $2.4 million to build out the growing Polkadot ecosystem.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: India pushes CBDC and proposes banning crypto. Korea’s DeFi future. How does Bitmain’s drama end?

Securities lawyers read the tea leaves of SEC’s lawsuits against Ripple XRP and Bitcoiin2Gen. Will DeFi be next for SEC enforcement actions or regulations?

The founder and CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange explains why he thinks bitcoin prices will keep rising but DeFi won’t be as hot as it was in 2020.

About half of cryptocurrency users are hobbyists while 15% consider crypto their primary source of income, according to a survey of 61,000 crypto users.

ConsenSys Codefi’s 4Q 2020 report on DeFi trends also predicts more ‘wrapped’ tokens, tranche lending products and Ethereum 2.0 derivatives in 2021.

How high will bitcoin prices go — and will 2021 be the year of the bitcoin ETF and advanced crypto derivatives? Jay Hao of OKEx looks to the future.

The SEC Commissioner doesn’t want the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry to obsess over regulations, but ‘think about how the technology can be used.’

Acoer’s founder and CEO offers his predictions for 2021, including blockchain being used to track Covid vaccinations as well as in the war against fake news.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Twitter’s blue sky initiative. In China, Conflux Network wins another government deal.

OKEx CEO speaks candidly on how 2020 was difficult for his crypto exchange, and offers his predictions for DeFi, regulations and CBDCs in year to come.

When it comes to issues over crypto regulations and compliance, answers could be found in blockchain technology, writes Rachid Ajaja of AllianceBlock.