If you think that the crypto market is still limited to offering cryptocurrencies and tokens that are decentralized, then you are clearly in the wrong and need to think again. The crypto market has introduced a huge world of possibilities to us that was only conceivable in a dream or in a fictional setting, but because of decentralization and blockchain technology, the world of finance has been updated in many cases into the future.
The whole definition of money has been changed for people from all forms, banks, and governments all put together as it is now digital but one step ahead of digital because it is decentralized.
The Popularity of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Decentralized finance has become the main element of attention within the blockchain world, and it has made the news quite a few times in the last few years, for many organizations have now adopted decentralized finance and have shifted their entire infrastructure to this elementary technology. Many people have been searching on the Internet regarding decentralized finance tokens, how they are different from regular cryptocurrencies and if there is an upbeat advantage towards holding a few of these tokens on their portfolio.
Purpose of DeFi
To be able to understand the full mechanism of decentralized finance tokens, it is important to understand what decentralized finance itself is. Decentralized finance is a Ledger based technology that implies the use of smart contracts for the sake of executing multiple deals and fundamental elements right then and there on a blockchain-oriented platform.
It has transformed the conventional applications for finance into the mainstream, and a more fashionable element is blockchain technology, where everything is transparent there is no need for any kind of intermediary whatsoever for the sake of executing deals because smart contracts can do that on their own without any additional help and it is more secure as compared to traditional finance.
To be able to understand the decentralized finance tokens and why the hype is so much targeted towards this kind of tokens, you have to go through the following article and read it out to understand what decentralized finance is and why these tokens have gained so much attention.
Major Objectives of DeFi
The first and foremost objective of the decentralized finance tokens and decentralized finance, in general, is towards the development of a completely open source and transparent financial platform that is accessible to all at all times.
The different theoretical elements, as well as practical approaches, are present within the development of decentralized finance towards the effect that it is something that should be accessible to all despite imposing any kind of discrimination whatsoever.
No centralized authority would be able to conceive the dealings of a decentralized finance ecosystem, and the users that are executing the deal in between them have the full anatomy as well as control over the deal without having to pay an exuberant amount of fees to third party individuals or mediators.
You would find multiple applications of decentralization revolving around the globe, and at the moment, these decentralized finance products are embedded in investment services, custodial services, centralized exchanges, centralized marketplaces, banking services, and the applications that are in charge of lending and borrowing.
All the decentralized finance applications are being run by smart contracts; they need a smart contract with a purposeful code embedded into it, which will execute the deal that the smart contract was initially developed for without having to ask for permissions or commands from anyone or any party involved.
Before going into a smart contract, all the terms and conditions are listed there for both parties, the receiver or sender or the lender and the borrower; once they have reviewed all these different objectives and terms and conditions and finalized the contract, nothing can be changed afterward it is completely immutable.
The smart contract is going to enforce all the terms of the contract, and should any party at any given point deviate from what was initially agreed, the contract will void itself, and the party which deviated from the conditions would have to pay a heavy penalty. You don’t need a third party or a mediator taking over the smart contract functionality because it runs on a simple algorithm that is made up of nothing but computer code running on blockchain systems.
Benefits of DeFi
The benefits that are tied with decentralized finance are actually going to show you the applications that this technology has in the real world and what kind of benefits and use cases people in the world of finance have been able to pull out of decentralized finance. These benefits are the very thing that has moved institutional investors and capitalists alike to take an interest in decentralized tokens, and the following are some of the advantages of decentralized finance that you should be aware of;
Decentralized finance provides the end user with tons of accessibility; you have all affairs of your financial regime right then and there before you to access and conquer without having to pay any additional fee or having to ask for the services of a mediator for the sake of conducting a transaction.
Interoperability is one of the greater benefits of decentralized finance, which means that you can exchange tokens in real-time, convert them into Fiat currency or do whatever you want to do with them just as you would with real Fiat money. This has given rise to the development of new decentralized finance tokens, markets, services, and solutions out there.
You do not have to incur a high cost when it comes to the maintenance as well as consistent operation of decentralized finance applications. There is only but a limited resource required to do so, which cuts the cost of maintenance massively and provides you with around-the-clock availability and throughput, which you might require for your own needs.
Another thing that is worth mentioning here is that decentralized finance applications are extremely easy to navigate, which means that they can result in the resolution of conflicts in a much more efficient way as opposed to the traditional financial elements, which do not do much about it.
Introduction to DeFi Tokens
Now that you have come across various different advantages of decentralized finance and its very significance, now is the time to get a proper introduction to decentralized finance tokens. The decentralized finance tokens are actually applications that are running on blockchain technology using the prospect of traditional finance and banking applications, and it isn’t like money but has its own provenance and significance to which many investors are attracted naturally because of the overall use case of these tokens and the value these provide.
Just like any other crypto project out there featuring its own blockchain and native token that lives on that blockchain, the decentralized finance projects have their own blockchain systems and their own decentralized finance tokens.
Most of these token distribution operations have been upgraded over the years, and at present, you can see that future governance for many blockchain systems has been manufactured from the ground up, and it is a simple agreement that allows people to cast their vote deciding the future elements of that particular blockchain such as what kind of tokens would be made available, what would be the changes in gas prices or transaction fees and so on so.
This kind of agreement is known as a simple agreement for future governance, and it is the most elementary token distribution mechanism out there. It allows people to be able to earn rewards in the form of the native token of whatever blockchain they are presently helping or participating in to conclude some kind of action.
Use Cases of DeFi Tokens
Being a user, you can leverage your token in exchange for rewards along the way, the casting of votes which would decide the future implications of the blockchain technology as well as the tokens that it is guarding. Most of these cases represent tokens that are nontransferable and do not have an economic value; these are only there for their ability to be used as a source of titles and for users to use these tokens to have their say in the future matters of the blockchain.
As for the price of the decentralized finance tokens, you don’t have to worry about a thing because these are commonly associated with a practical financial value. The decentralized finance platforms that are usually in charge of lending and borrowing these tokens would have a specific financial value embedded in them. Users would continue to receive incentives in the form of native tokens with a gradually lower interest rate, or they could receive the tokens free of cost for particular actions that they have performed for the good of the blockchain environment they are presently engaging in.
The very idea that supports the foundation of decentralized finance tokens is the redevelopment of financial services in a pretty decent manner. You might have a better chance at improving your yields with the help of decentralized finance tokens, but at the same time, you should be aware of the fact that these are extremely high-risk investment forms which means that you must be aware of the risk that you’re taking when chipping in and deciding to invest your hard-earned money into one of these tokens.
The price of such tokens is subjected to extreme volatility and market changes; at one point in time, you would be seeing sorting returns for these tokens, but at a different time, the whole thing would be crashing so hard that you won’t even be able to breathe or exit your position, the first thing that you should do in such a scenario.
Popular DeFi Tokens
Decentralized finance has become a phenomenon which is why there are tons of applications and platforms that are operating in their own capacity under the umbrella of decentralized finance. DeFi has the availability of multiple types and kinds of decentralized finance tokens.
There are tons of tokens available out there; some are very specific in their capacity to mean something, while others are too elaborate; anyway following are some of the most popular decentralized finance tokens out there that you should clearly check out if you are willing to make an investment and you want to have an incredible return on your investment in the coming days.
MKR
MKR happens to be the decentralized finance token of MakerDAO; it is an incredibly popular decentralized finance application that allows its users to have a plethora of different financial as well as decentralized services that fall under different umbrella names. The company offers lending services to the users, which means that you can become a lender by substituting your tokens into one of the mining pools for this particular decentralized finance application, and you can earn rewards for the money that you have spent or set aside or have lent to somebody through the platform.
It has its own stablecoin by the name of Dai, and the MKR token owners share responsibility for governance-oriented decisions for this very protocol. It means that person who has this token their self able to make governance-oriented decisions for the platform, such as what kind of tokens would be made available on the platform, what should be the interest rate for lending and borrowing activity, and if newer resolutions are needed to be introduced into the platform or not. It also refers to how collateral would work and what kind of substitutions need to be done within that particular paradigm to make the platform more genuine and efficient for everyone involved.
COMP
COMP happens to be the decentralized finance token for a compound which is another decentralized financial platform that offers borrowing and lending of cryptocurrencies to the end users. If you want to borrow or lend some of the cryptocurrencies for a short period of time while not having to care about the liquidity practices or having to submit collateral, then it is the perfect platform that you should check out right now.
This supply-demand ratio for particular crypto assets is actually what pinpoints the interest rate, and the allocation of the decentralized finance token COMP would depend upon the overall amount of interest that is viable within the market; furthermore, you can use this token for the sake of governance oriented aspects and decisions for the protocol.
Aave
Aave is usually one of the finest and most tenacious decentralized finance tokens within the market, and it has scored itself a potential value as well as a reputation within the market for being the most elementary lending and borrowing platform with the most incredible interest rate that is completely different from the other platforms.
The native token for this platform is known as LEND and is being an end user decides to hold on to this particular token, then you would have got yourself discounted fees with future plans with this particular token, and you can also use it to stake your cryptocurrencies. You can also use it as a governance token to cast your vote for various decisions that are made within the decentralized blockchain space. If you have got an outstanding loan over a decentralized platform, then you would be amazed to know that you can use this particular token for the sake of clearing those loans or paying for them one way or the other.
ALGO
Algorand is the blockchain platform that is working on Ether at the moment, which is used for the sake of creating decentralized applications by the developers who are interested in the general landscape of blockchain technology.
ALGO works as the native token for this particular blockchain entity, and it is also thirsted over when it comes to the discussion of top decentralized finance tokens out there in the market. You can take loans on this particular platform if you want to, and you can also help the platform in facilitating the decentralized kind of trading for which you are rewarded with the native token of the platform.
Other than that, you can use this token for the sake of rewarding multiple participants who are actually taking charge when it comes to the facilitation of active user trading on the network. Other than that, you can use this particular decentralized finance token for governance-oriented purposes, which means that if you have quite a quantity of this token, then you can use it for the sake of casting your vote on various matters of the blockchain platform in question.
ZRX
0x is another blockchain platform that serves as a decentralized application, and ZRX works as the native token for this particular blockchain; it is actually a permissionless liquidity protocol with only one aim in mind, which is to offer liquidity to all users despite their backgrounds or any other prevalence whatsoever.
0x can be used by end users for the sake of bringing people on the same page when it comes to liquidity-oriented elements while at the same time developing new and more consistent decentralized exchanges.
There are a wide variety of use cases that you can extract from the decentralized finance token ZRX. It can be used with the market makers on the liquidity protocol for the sake of earning rewards; if you have a surplus of this token on yourself, then you can use it for the sake of staking purposes and earning incentives and rewards for this action. Other than that, it also serves as a governance-oriented token that you can have on yourself and take part in the future decisions of the blockchain environment to which this token initially belongs.
Final Thoughts
You might have seen the pattern here that there is a common denominator, and that happens to be these blockchain environments all serving as lending and borrowing environments for the end user, and all the tokens act as governance tokens rather than being a store of value. This is why decentralized finance tokens have their use case and power in terms of being governance tokens rather than utility tokens.