The world of modern cryptocurrencies has evolved beyond just money, with currencies like Ethereum providing programmable open platforms to build the financial instruments of the future. These new tools aim to re-create and radically improve the centuries-old systems we have today, a movement that has come to be known as decentralized finance, or DeFi. As the head economist of Decentralized Protocols at ConsenSys, Lex Sokolin is an expert on DeFi, as well as crypto and FinTech in general. In his current role, he focuses on protocol crypto-economics, digital assets, public and private blockchains and decentralized finance. In this episode, Eyal and Lex sit down to discuss how DeFi is creating the fabric of an entirely new economy, including where open banking fits into the picture. They cover the difference between different cryptocurrencies, the introduction of smart contracts, and how DeFi is ushering in the new world of finance.
Specifically they discuss:
Overview of crypto
Bitcoin vs. vs. other cryptocurrencies
What are smart contracts?
The emergence of DeFi
Open banking as a bridge
The old economy vs. the new