DeFi platforms are structured to become independent from their developers and backers over time and to ultimately be governed by a community of users whose power comes from holding the protocol’s tokens.

By comparison, centralized finance, or CeFi, businesses more closely resemble traditional finance, or TradFi, where consumers enter into an agreement with a company like BlockFi that collects information about them, requires them to turn over their crypto and also serves as a central point for regulators.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is the primary network that developers use to build decentralized platforms for crypto borrowing, lending, trading and more. Ether is the cryptocurrency, or token, used to pay to operate on the network. Because the Ethereum blockchain is so popular and made it possible to create new offerings, Ether is widely used and crypto fans are enthusiastic about its worth. It is the second-most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization