DeFi
Decentralized finance: lending, trading, and other financial activity run by smart contracts instead of a bank or broker — its building blocks, and the risks specific to using open, permissionless protocols.
15 guides in this category, ordered from beginner to advanced.
DeFi guides
What Is DeFi?
An introduction to decentralised finance, its building blocks, and the risks behind its open access.
7 min read · 14 related concepts
How Decentralized Exchanges Work
A clear explanation of how decentralized exchanges let people trade directly from their own wallets, using automated market makers.
6 min read · 6 related concepts
Understanding DeFi Lending and Borrowing
How DeFi lending protocols let people lend and borrow crypto through smart contracts, and why over-collateralization matters.
6 min read · 19 related concepts
Understanding Liquidity Pools and AMMs
How automated market makers use liquidity pools to enable trading without a traditional order book.
6 min read · 9 related concepts
What Is DeFi Insurance?
How decentralized cover protocols actually work, why a claim payout is discretionary rather than a legal guarantee, and a real, documented conflict of interest in that model.
6 min read · 8 related concepts
Parametric vs. Discretionary DeFi Insurance: How Claims Actually Get Paid
The two main ways a DeFi insurance claim actually gets decided, and why that difference matters more than the premium you pay.
5 min read · 3 related concepts
How to Read a DeFi Protocol's Insurance Coverage Terms
The specific details worth checking in a DeFi insurance policy's actual terms, before assuming a position is genuinely protected.
5 min read · 2 related concepts
How Tokenized Real-World Assets Are Actually Redeemed
What actually happens, mechanically, when you redeem a tokenized real-world asset back for the underlying value it represents.
5 min read · 3 related concepts
What Happens When a Tokenized Asset's Issuer Fails?
The realistic outcomes for a tokenized real-world asset's holders if the issuer behind it becomes insolvent or stops operating.
5 min read · 1 related concept
How Crypto Lending Platforms Differ From DeFi Lending Protocols
The real structural difference between a centralized crypto lending platform and a DeFi lending protocol -- who actually holds your collateral.
5 min read · 2 related concepts
How Tokenized Private Credit Actually Works (and Its Default Risk)
The actual mechanics behind a tokenized private-credit product -- the SPV and tranching structure, why reported market-size figures vary so widely, and why its default risk depends entirely on the underlying borrowers, not the tokenization itself.
8 min read · 3 related concepts
What Is Yield Farming?
How yield farming works, and the real risks behind advertised returns.
6 min read · 5 related concepts
Understanding Impermanent Loss
Why providing liquidity to a pool can leave you worse off than simply holding the same assets.
6 min read · 4 related concepts
How Flash Loans Work
How a loan can be borrowed and repaid within a single transaction, and what it's actually used for.
6 min read · 3 related concepts
Understanding Real Yield vs. Emissions-Funded Yield
The difference between yield paid from genuine revenue and yield funded by new token issuance.
5 min read · 2 related concepts
Key terms in this category
Yield Farming
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Staking
Read the Staking glossary definition
Unstaking
Read the Unstaking glossary definition
DeFi
Read the DeFi glossary definition
Liquidity
Read the Liquidity glossary definition
Slippage
Read the Slippage glossary definition
Stablecoin
Read the Stablecoin glossary definition
Decentralized Exchange
Read the Decentralized Exchange glossary definition
Automated Market Maker
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Liquidity Pool
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Liquidity Provider
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Impermanent Loss
Read the Impermanent Loss glossary definition
Token Approval
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Lending Protocol
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Collateral
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Over-Collateralization
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Liquidation
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Flash Loan
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Collateralization Ratio
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Collateralized Debt Position (CDP)
Read the Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) glossary definition
Bad Debt
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Liquid Staking
Read the Liquid Staking glossary definition
Impermanent Loss Protection
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Bonding Curve
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Vampire Attack
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DeFi Insurance
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Bonding
Read the Bonding glossary definition
Unbonding
Read the Unbonding glossary definition
Real Yield
Read the Real Yield glossary definition