DeFi Technologies will change banking forever - Decentralised Finance and New Frontiers for Blockchain

In the minds of many, blockchain technology – the use of encrypted blocks of data to create a shared ledger of activity – is synonymous with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

But cryptocurrencies are but one application of blockchain, and many of its strongest proponents believe it offers a wider range of opportunities to do finance differently.

Private and government-backed variations on cryptocurrencies called ‘stablecoins’ are under discussion, while new models of ‘Decentralised Finance’ or ‘DeFi’, using ‘smart contracts’ to cut out intermediaries such as banks and brokerages, are also emerging.