DeFi 101
What Is A Layer 1 Blockchain Network?
Layer 1s are the base layer of a blockchain network. Here’s how they work, and why they’re so important to crypto.
What is Compound Finance?
In this DeFi 101 tutorial, we explain how Compound works and explore DeFi lending.
Kurt Ivy •
The Ultimate Beginners Guide To The Axie Infinity Game and Marketplace
This handy primer explores the Axie Infinity game, from its driving concepts to its tokenomics and use of NFTs.
Kurt Ivy •
DeFi 2.0 Primer: Decentralized Finance is Poised to Expand its Reach But Challenges Loom
In this DeFi 2.0 primer, Mason Marcabello explores the next iteration of the DeFi story.
What is DeFi? The Ultimate DeFi 101 Guide to Ethereum, Layer 2s, Yield Farming, and More
This updated primer on DeFi explains Ethereum, layer 1s and Layer 2, top projects, and governance.
What Is Leveraged Yield Farming and How Can It Bring Higher Returns?
In DeFi, while it’s not necessarily true that bigger is always better, the beauty of a high APY never fails to turn heads. And regardless of how much higher DeFi yields are compared to traditional finance, there’s no shortage of DeFi users eager to maximize their profits, chasing higher yields from platform to platform and […]
Crypto Day Trading: Leveraged Yield Farming Strategies
Does leveraged yield farming sound intimidating? It’s understandable that some would feel that way. After all, leverage and yield strategies are tools that professional investors have been known to utilize, their inner workings esoteric to the every-day investor. Yet, with the growth of decentralized finance, that’s no longer the case. Easy-to-use platforms now exist to […]
DeFi 101: A Visual Guide to Definitions and Data Sources
Insane 1000% returns, tokens named after foods, rugs? We get it, the decentralized finance, or DeFi for short, ecosystem is a whole new world and a complex, and many times anxiety-inducing, one at that. Our very own goofy face of The Defiant YouTube, Robin Schmidt, created a DeFi 101 presentation explaining what this new blockchain-based […]
Algorithmic Stablecoins Breakdown: Attempting to Fulfill Satoshi’s Dream
When Satoshi first published the Bitcoin whitepaper to the world, he titled it “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Cash System” and although Bitcoin would evolve to adopt the digital gold narrative instead, the dream of creating a fully functional digital cash system has remained. Stablecoins, defined as a subset of cryptocurrencies that are pegged to a specific […]
Not All DEXs are Created Equal: Here’s the Math
Upshot: Uniswap and PancakeSwap have become household names in decentralized exchanges but a new crop of platforms are coming online with the promise of lower fees and more pricing transparency. With gas prices making headlines throughout the first half of 2021, it’s worth taking a deeper dive into what your options are when trading across […]
Ethereum’s Value Extracting Bots: Explainer and Project Map
The ability to write flexible smart contracts in Ethereum and to create composable money lego’s out of it is one of the main reasons why decentralized finance has seen such explosive innovation and growth. But the complexity that is brought by stacking these blocks creates an opportunity for blockchain miners to extract value by excluding, […]
Solana DeFi Ecosystem Overview
Solana has emerged as one of the handful of smart contracts platforms competing to become a base layer for DeFi applications, with some of its projects gaining traction as its SOL token climbs to the top 15 by market capitalization. Solana, created in 2017, incorporates a so-called Proof-of-History timing mechanism that facilitates its Proof-of-Stake protocol […]
Governance Tokens: Investing in the Building Blocks of a New Economy
One of the most important building blocks in DeFi is the governance token. When blockchains have on-chain governance, there is no built-in central entity that controls how any given upgrade is managed. Seeing the opportunity, developers all over the world are creating programmatic systems for on-chain governance, and issuing governance tokens, which give holders the […]
What is a DAO? Mapping Out the Ecosystem
This article offers a 10,000ft view on the ‘Decentralized {Autonomous} Organization’, or DAO tooling and project landscape. It’s intended to be complementary to introductory posts like Linda Xie’s ‘A beginner’s guide to DAOs’. The goal is to help contributors and participants better acclimate themselves with the distinct project categories and relevant infrastructure leading the growing […]
Five Leading DeFi Aggregators
As DeFi grows, keeping tabs on all the available products has become increasingly challenging. Even for those individuals who are able to keep track, the scattered nature of the many protocols, each with their own controls and very different user interfaces, makes operating in the sector a challenge. One of the best ways of mitigating this […]