DeFi : The Future of Banks
Blockchain applications are included under the umbrella term called “decentralized finance” (DeFi). DeFi enables several entities to maintain the record of transactions. This indicates that nothing is under the control of a single source. Instead, everything is decentralized.
This is significant since traditional centralized systems can limit transaction speed, flexibility, and transparency, leaving consumers with less absolute authority over their money.
When it comes to emerging technology, particularly in the financial sector, regulators may sometimes be not on board. Not all regulators are up to date on the latest technology, especially when they are not adopted by some of the market’s larger participants.
Having said that, decentralized finance (DeFi) appears to be a collection of OTT apps. DeFi services, like smartphone applications and content, may be swiftly and affordably placed into the market. Outdated compliance expenses or legacy technology systems are not a hindrance for DeFi services. As a result, DeFi services are frequently better, quicker, and less expensive than conventional banking solutions.
Challenges:
Banks throughout the world will confront a succession of competitive issues similar to those experienced by telecom network providers over the previous 30 years in the future years. On the one hand, businesses may gain large additional market share by providing their clients with access to the crypto and DeFi ecosystems, but that market share may not be as profitable as it was previously. Instead of obtaining loans and financial services from within the company, new consumers will be allowed to shop across the whole DeFi ecosystem.
Some banks will also attempt to establish competitive DeFi services. Banks will need to find areas where they have a significant competitive edge, from stablecoins to secured loans and CBDCs.
DeFi’s is expanding its footprint:
Yield farming, or the practice of staking cryptocurrency to earn more as passive income, will most certainly continue to drive DeFi’s development. Yield farming is more than just staking. It’s about maximizing returns in staking.
Though yield farming is presently primarily on the Ethereum blockchain, cross-chain bridges and interoperability solutions will soon bridge the blockchain divide. Yield farming will continue to attract institutional investment to the area, as well as private investors looking to benefit on their crypto holdings.
Beyond yield farming, DeFi-powered technologies will change the economic structure of the future. Trustless liquidity mechanisms and other DeFi solutions are at the forefront of banking and cryptocurrency economics. By removing middlemen from various financial activities, DeFi money markets can contribute to the creation of a more affordable, fair, and transparent financial system that is accessible to anybody with an internet connection.
DeFi’s function in the future economy will be holistic. Traditional financial systems are likely to be abandoned in the next half-century, and decentralized structures will reign supreme. According to Gartner, 80 percent of financial organizations would go out of business or become obsolete over the next decade due to increased competitors, changing client behavior, and technological developments. This, however, will be a gradual and laborious process rich with possibilities for banks and centralized actors to adapt and develop for new profits.
The financial world will be disrupted by a hybrid financial model that connects the new technology afforded by DeFi with the long-established institutions of traditional banks. Monetary authorities, regulators, and economic overseers will all play critical roles in the financial system’s digitalization and decentralization. Although traditional and decentralized approaches are frequently pitted against one another, few seem to grasp the benefits of blending the best of both worlds.
DeFi and Regulations:
There is currently no regulatory structure or standard-setting organization focused on the further expansion of DeFi and its integration into mainstream banking. Bonds and equities in conventional financial markets are vetted and graded using long-established processes. Unless and until comparable regulatory concepts are utilized to designate DeFi capable goods, the sector will be strangled and unable to scale to its full potential. Without rapid legislative certainty, DeFi, like other blockchain-based advancements, will be forced to stay on the outside of innovation, moving at a slower pace than it should.
There have been few calls for an outright ban on DeFi, and several major banks and financial institutions are looking into how they may leverage decentralized finance’s smart contracts and methodologies to deliver products that are faster, cheaper, and more efficient than what is now achievable.
Proponents of a softer regulatory approach to DeFi agree on this point, warning that strict regulation of cryptocurrency-powered, peer-to-peer financial projects managed without centralized human control will simply “stifle innovation” and cause a brain drain as developers flee to more friendly jurisdictions.
US has been trying to figure out the way forward and they seem to be struggling. Regulations without taking the blockchain industry into confidence may not be fruitful. Crypto firms remain unsure of what lies ahead in regulations in the US market. Some clarity is needed around the legislation governing products that enable consumers to earn interest on assets rather than selling them, months after a federal regulator and state governments imposed a $100 million punishment on such a scheme.
EU on the other hand is hoping for a worldwide regulation. Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets had this to day:
“A global agreement on crypto should first enshrine that no product remains unregulated. Second, supervisors should collect and exchange information globally. Third, any agreement must protect retail investors. Fourth, the crypto ecosystem should fully integrate environmental considerations.”
To conclude, the mainstream banking system faces little concerns from DeFi. It is essentially distinct and not yet systemic in scale, and the linkages between banks and insurance firms and DeFi are minor.
Nonetheless, as DeFi grows and matures, we may anticipate its ties to the conventional banking system to strengthen. Whether this new financial setup is taking as a risk rather than evolution by the conventional market leaders can only be know with time. We shall have to wait and watch.
As more time shall pass by, education around DeFi is bound to progress. With DeFi poised to improve the economy’s financial procedures there will be various speed bumps along the road, just like the growth of the internet. Whether you’re on board or dismissing the emergence of DeFi, it’s evident that the revolution is well started.
