DeFi challenges this centralized financial system by disempowering middlemen and gatekeepers, and empowering everyday people via peer-to-peer exchanges.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are the core technologies that enable decentralized finance.

When you make a transaction in your conventional checking account, it’s recorded in a private ledger—your banking transaction history—which is owned and managed by a large financial institution. Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed public ledger where financial transactions are recorded in computer code.