Blockchain’s DeFi Dapps — the technology of the future?
The Coronavirus was not the first stimulus in recent memory to accelerate technological growth and it won’t be the last.
We’ve had Brexit, the Trump Administration, the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation and more to encourage businesses to move into the future — adapt and thrive — or give in to fear and inertia, and close.
Whilst vast established businesses like Debenhams, Thomas Cook and more fold and liquidate, there’s a growing movement of visionary technologists quietly building the future.
Launched on August 30th 2011 and heralding the arrival of Bitcoin, the Blockchain came to change everything.
A few years later in 2015, the Ethereum Blockchain was launched and changed everything all over again.
The Ethereum Blockchain is based upon smart contracts that run on Ether, a reward given to those who verify the contracts through something called mining. Based on the same Decentralized Finance (DeFi) principles as Bitcoin, but operating on a different blockchain, Ethereum has grown to be the second biggest cryptocurrency, but it might become the biggest one day, because it powers so much more than itself.
What is DeFi?
Dectralized Finance operates on the principal that we have been beholden to big banks for too long, and that centralised governance of finance is bad for us — the people.
By empowering everyday people who need only access to the internet and some basic technical skills to run entire financial movements, we reduce reliance on the banks, improve interest rates, and speed up technological innovation.
Why is it important?
The Ethereum Blockchain can be used to create ERC-20 Tokens, which allows any web developer to create their own proto-cryptocurrency, which can eventually evolve from token to full coin.
This has given rise to Dapps, Decrentalized Apps that solve real world problems such as payment APIs and more, whereby users can be rewarded with tokens that one day might be worth a lot of money when they become coins.
Typically these Dapps are web applications that can be used to create new products, services or even currencies in a way that is actually more private, secure and lucrative than working with traditional centralized financial solutions.
A great example of a useful DApp is the Ethereum Name Service, that allows users to come up with user-friendly names for their crypto wallet addresses rather than long strings of numbers and letters or QR codes.
How can I get involved?
For many people the Blockchain and all that comes with it is a thing of mystery that they have heard about but not necessarily interacted with.
We have a couple of recommendations on how to get involved depending on your knowledge level.
If you’re starting out — it’s probably best to start learning about the movement first. There are several sites and centralized marketplaces like Coinbase that will reward you for learning about crypto with a small amount of tokens or coins that you can use yourself.
If you know a bit — you could find a decentralized app that you like that has it’s own decentralized exchange and either earn or buy some to get started.
If you are a developer — you could consider learning how to create your own token, use it to fix a real-life problem, crowdfund your token and then look to convert it into a real cryptocurrency coin!
