Word
defi
Phoneticsde·fi
/ˈdiːfaɪ/
Definition
n. a system of financial services — lending, borrowing, and trading — built on blockchains that run through code instead of banks or other traditional middlemen.
n. decentralized finance: an umbrella term for peer-to-peer financial services delivered through smart contracts on a blockchain, without centralized intermediaries such as banks or brokerages.
Examples
“He earns interest on his savings through DeFi.”
“Instead of using a bank, she borrowed stablecoins through a DeFi lending protocol.”
“Because DeFi platforms replace intermediaries with open-source smart contracts, a single coding flaw can drain millions from a liquidity pool in seconds.”
Examples
simple
“He earns interest on his savings through DeFi.”
contextual
“Instead of using a bank, she borrowed stablecoins through a DeFi lending protocol.”
complex
“Because DeFi platforms replace intermediaries with open-source smart contracts, a single coding flaw can drain millions from a liquidity pool in seconds.”
Etymology
Shortened from decentralized finance, the capitalised Fi echoing forms like WiFi and SciFi.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.