Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an open and global financial system built for the internet age– an alternative to a system that’s opaque, tightly controlled, and held together by decades-old infrastructure and processes. It gives you control and visibility over your money. It gives you exposure to global markets and alternatives to your local currency or banking options. DeFi products open up financial services to anyone with an internet connection and they’re largely owned and maintained by their users. So far tens of billions of dollars worth of crypto has flowed through DeFi applications and it’s growing every day.

In DeFi, financial products and services are made available to anyone who has an internet connection and can use Ethereum. With DeFi, the markets are always open and there are no centralized authorities who can block payments or deny you access. Since services used to be operated by humans and subject to human error, they are now handled by code that can be inspected and scrutinized.

You can lend, borrow, long/short, earn interest, and more in the growing crypto economy. For example crypto-savvy Argentinians are using DeFi to escape crippling inflation. Companies are streaming their employees’ wages in real time. Many people have borrowed and repaid loan amounts worth millions of dollars without having to provide any personal identification.