On September 10, thousands joined our virtual summit to explore the fast-growing world of DeFi. Over a series of memorable panels and sessions, we charted the rise of DeFi, discussed the challenges of bridging DeFi and CeFi, held a workshop teaching users how to earn passive income with decentralized finance, and more.
What’s clear is that DeFi has taken the crypto world by storm, and we’re grateful to everybody who watched live on YouTube and Twitter. We hope you came away with some new insights on decentralized finance.
Here are 5 highlights from the event:
1. Binance Announces $100M DeFi Support Fund
“I have a $100 million dollar announcement to make…”
In his fireside chat about bridging DeFi and CeFi, Binance Founder & CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) announced a $100 million support fund for DeFi projects on Binance Smart Chain, a parallel Binance Chain with smart contract functionality. The funds will go towards the community of developers. This represents one of our biggest commitments yet towards encouraging DeFi growth and adoption. Read more about the support fund here.
2. All Chains Lead to Binance
CZ also confirmed that the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem will support the farming of mainstream tokens such as $XRP, $BCH, $LTC, $ADA, $DOT, $XTZ, $EOS, $ONT. Project Token Canal will enable the adding of DeFi, staking, and yield farming abilities to tokens on Binance Smart Chain.
The first five projects to launch on Binance Smart Chain include two decentralized lending projects, two Automated Market Maker (AMM) projects, and a decentralized auction project.
3. Industry Pioneers and Experts Weigh In On DeFi’s Rise and Future
Over two panel sessions, some of the most recognized names in the DeFi space shared their thoughts on today’s DeFi projects and trends. While new concepts like yield farming have driven the industry’s recent growth, the best developments may still be ahead.
Rune Christensen, Founder of MakerDAO, said, “This is the beginning of the exponential growth of DeFi”, and that his goal is to realize the full benefit of DeFi technology and apply it to the real world. When asked whether DeFi is eventually going to supplant traditional finance, Robert Leshner, Founder of Compound, said, “DeFi is going to win when existing financial institutions are able to use it… my vision is that DeFi will be used by traditional finance, not that one has to kill the other.”
Meanwhile, Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, claimed that DeFi’s innovations would eventually erode legacy systems. Camila Russo, Founder of The Defiant, had similar expectations, citing concepts like yield hopping and no-loss lotteries as DeFi innovations that traditional finance would find hard to match.
4. Earning Passive Income with DeFi
In an exclusive two-part workshop session, Teck Chia, Head of Binance X, and Viktor Radchenko, Founder of Trust Wallet, shared their knowledge of the DeFi space. After giving a high level overview of the major classes of DeFi protocols, Teck passed the baton to Viktor, who did a live demonstration of different DeFi projects, from yield farming initiatives to Automated Market Makers (AMMs) and more. If you want to get a hands-on demo of some of the DeFi industry’s most popular projects, check out Viktor’s presentation. For more information on DeFi protocols, you can download Teck’s slides here.
5. Bringing Mass Adoption to DeFi and Crypto
How will DeFi reach the tipping point and find a mass audience? Bella Protocol Co-Founder and CEO Felix Xu explains that the crypto community’s enthusiasm for DeFi can be traced to key innovations like liquidity mining, and that these innovations give the DeFi industry the ability to truly disrupt the traditional financial world. With stablecoins turning from a medium of exchange into a savings instrument as well, there’s ample opportunity for the stablecoin market cap to grow. Watch Felix’s presentation here.
We wanted to give a special thanks to everyone who joined us—we’re continually inspired by your passion and enthusiasm. We would also like to thank Bella Protocol for sponsoring the event. For those who couldn’t make it, you can watch the full event here.
