Decentralized finance (DeFi) is changing the way that people all over the world think about money faster than any previous financial revolution. Banks, which have monopolized the way we’ve accessed money since antiquity, are finally seeing their status being challenged. Now, it’s DeFi which is starting to provide an alternative that could turn the economic landscape on its head and democratize access to finance. This seismic shift in power away from governments and banks and towards real people is long overdue, particularly in developing nations where DeFi is already emerging as a tool for remittances and small loans. Financial inclusion …

The dramatic short squeeze of the stock of video game retailer GameStop this January was the moment when r/WallStreetBets finally transformed from a humble Reddit forum into a financial force that can no longer be ignored. But lost among the memes, trading app drama and hand-wringing over the sanctity of the stock market was one surprising outcome: GameStop’s share price didn’t just rise — the company actually listened to its many new retail investors and aggressively ramped up its strategy to focus on e-commerce. Rather than just a one-off market glitch, the investments made by r/WallStreetBets users resulted in the …

A glossy looking documentary series centered on the history of money and cryptocurrency premiere on August 19th at 7:00 am UTC, and features interviews from a long list of top crypto figures. The 12 episode video series is somewhat confusingly called “Coins Podcast” and the first two episodes drop on YouTube today. The show is hosted by Patrick Mclain of blockchain accelerator Mousebelt, and narrated by actor Robert Davi, who has played roles in Die Hard, James Bond: License to Kill and Predator 2. The docu-series features interviews with crypto proponents and key figures in the sector such as FTX …

Decentralized finance has become one of the fastest-growing sectors within the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the past year. At the time of writing, the total value locked in DeFi has exploded to over $100 billion. Despite impressive figures, decentralized finance is still in the beginning stages of development, which begs the question: What’s next for this disruptive financial technology? The next frontier will likely uncover new possibilities through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning joining with decentralized finance to create DeFi intelligence. DeFi intelligence in the wild Today, several companies are spearheading the integration of AI and machine learning with blockchain, …

From QR code payments to mobile banking apps, consumers worldwide are increasingly reliant on digital payment solutions, especially as mobile technology becomes more ubiquitous. Government-led efforts in driving cashless economies have been a key factor, with countries such as Singapore or the Philippines seeing their central banks driving the adoption of contactless payments during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, usage rates for digital payments platforms have recorded promising growth, even as high as 5,000% in the Philippines alone. Related: Digitized Europe: The shift to a cashless world This unprecedented rise in cashless payments is also paving …

Bitcoin may not mean an end to traditional currency and banking, according to research director of Coin Center Peter Van Valkenburgh “I think there are folks in the Bitcoin community who probably make too many noises about how Bitcoin is going to dominate all economic systems and nobody will be using dollars anymore, and nobody will be using banks anymore, and I think that’s actually a little foolhardy,” Van Valkenburgh said in a Friday interview with the Washington Journal on C-Span. “The fact of the matter is that there’s going to be times when a Bitcoin transaction is what you …

Blockchain technology is one of the most promising technologies of our times, and the core concept of it is really simple. Essentially, it is a public ledger or database, and I think that public education about what blockchain actually is can be the key to its mass adoption. Lack of knowledge and perception from the general public of the differences between blockchain technology and cryptocurrency are the major hurdles of mainstream adoption. Hollywood and the mass media still portray the industry as having a deep criminal element, associating it with the shady past of Silk Road and the darknet. Related: …

This is Part Two of a multipart series on blockchain and crypto in China. Read Part One about the digital yuan here. When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper over a decade ago, it was hard to imagine what role the cryptocurrency sector would play in global finance. Some argue that the invention of blockchain technology is comparable to the revolution brought on by the invention of the internet back in the 1980s. Starting as a niche space for tech enthusiasts, in just 12 years Bitcoin has become a serious player in the financial field, with its market …

It is a pivotal moment in the development of the new digital economy. Interest in all things crypto keeps growing exponentially, and investment follows closely. There has arguably never been so much money poured into a product class that was so poorly understood, both by the wider public and by most investors. In lieu of actual understanding, stakeholders in the crypto space have to operate on reputation and trust instead. This necessity has given rise to a dangerous new con. Unlike blatant scams like OneCoin or Bitconnect, today’s blockchain opportunists and confidence tricksters often play the faux science card. “Read …

To function effectively, society has long depended on people having faith in their institutions. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and wide-ranging failures of leadership, that faith has been tested like never before. Nowhere is the decline in trust more evident than in the financial services sector. In its 2021 Trust Barometer, Edelman found that only 53% of American respondents said they trusted those in the U.S. to "do what is right" — down 5% from its 2020 survey. You can see this in the battle between Main Street and Wall Street, which played out in January’s GameStop rally. More than …

Engaging in the traditional financial markets has become less appealing to consumers and institutional investors as of late. New opportunities are plentiful, with decentralized finance getting a lot of attention. However, that new movement is not without its risks and flaws, either. For decades, consumers and institutional investors have explored the many different options presented to them in the financial world. This approach has worked out rather well, as one could even earn passive revenue on their savings account. Today, things look very different, as many banks charge negative interest rates and continue to exploit their customers. Another problem compounding …

Everyone knows the story. When the first block of Bitcoin (BTC) was mined, the protocol itself entered a world of grave economic uncertainty. Not long before the market would hit its lowest point of the 2009 recession, Bitcoin was quietly created, dropped like a life raft alongside a then-sinking economy. The now infamous phrase “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” was cribbed from the headlines, immortalized in code in the origin story of one of the most compelling, innovative, best-performing assets of the last decade. But Bitcoin did not immediately take root beyond a small community of true …