Glossary
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
16/04/2026
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is a broad category of financial applications built on blockchains that replicate and extend traditional financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, earning interest — without banks, brokers, or other intermediaries.
Core DeFi services
| Service | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Decentralized exchanges | Trade tokens peer-to-peer | Uniswap, PancakeSwap |
| Lending / borrowing | Earn interest or borrow against collateral | Aave, Compound |
| Yield farming | Earn rewards for providing liquidity | Various |
| Stablecoins | Algorithmically or collateral-backed stable assets | DAI, USDC |
Key properties
- Permissionless — no account needed, anyone can use it
- Non-custodial — funds stay in user wallets
- Transparent — all smart contract logic is publicly auditable
- Composable — DeFi protocols can be combined ("money lego")
Risks
- Smart contract bugs — code vulnerabilities have led to billions in losses
- Liquidation risk — borrowed positions can be liquidated if collateral value drops
- Rug pulls — malicious developers drain project liquidity
- Oracle manipulation — price feeds can be manipulated to exploit protocols
Relevance to miners
Miners with accumulated cryptocurrency can use DeFi to:
- Earn yield on held assets instead of leaving them idle
- Borrow stablecoins against crypto collateral without selling
- Swap mined coins via DEX without KYC
