Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has become the latest buzzword in the cryptocurrency space. 2020 has seen this rather nascent niche take its root as a major force in the crypto world. In many ways, DeFi appears to have given new life to the cryptocurrency space as it aims to bring banking to the unbanked.
With the help of DeFi protocols, users can save and earn interest on their holdings, as well as take out crypto-backed loans. There are other use cases of DeFi such as the ability to trade on decentralized platforms and tokenization of real-world assets, just to mention a few.
But then, despite the increased popularity and interest from investors for DeFi projects, the tech did not just appear from the blues. What started as Bitcoin in 2008 has evolved into a whole industry of its own. But what is even more surprising is the fact that just two years ago, there was only around $200 million locked in DeFi projects. A year ago this amount was less than $700 million. But as of press time, the total value of locked assets in the DeFi space was more than $13 billion. This is a growth of over 1700% in less than a year.
The rapid rise of DeFi has seen critics accuse the space of being a speculative bubble. And true to their claims, several unaudited projects have received significant funding within a few hours after going live. They believe that the dotcom bubble of the 90s and the ICO frenzy of 2017 shared similar euphoric characteristics. On the flip side, there are others who believe that the growth of the DeFi space is natural.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance is one of those that believe that despite showing signs of being a bubble, DeFi is here to stay. In a recent interview with RBC, a Russian news agency, Zhao stated that “a lot of DeFi projects are already in a bubble, and I also believe that there are some signs of a bubble in the DeFi industry, but this does not mean that DeFi will eventually disappear entirely.”
Zhao went on to argue that the DeFi industry has a lot of potential for growth and just like the 2017 ICO frenzy which gave birth to some solid tokens, DeFi is expected to replicate the same.
“Companies create new tokens, issue them as a reward. This is not a long-running story. But I think DeFi is here to stay. Even now, with Bitcoin’s popularity rising again, DeFi is still popular. We think there is a lot of growth potential in DeFi.”
Speaking of tokens, OnigiriSwap is a DeFi project that demonstrates how fast offerings in the space are rising to prominence and the potential behind the tech. Within a few days of its website going live, OnigiriSwap received significant attention from the crypto community. In addition to a few listings, OnigiriSwap was also a top-gainer on Coingecko.
According to an earlier post on Medium, OnigiriSwap revealed that it wasn’t really trying to introduce a new tech. Instead, it was just providing sound tokenomics coupled with a tried and tested AMM based on Uniswap. Ironically, despite this claim, the project still received a lot of attention from yield farmers and traders. This goes to show that investors and DeFi enthusiasts are on the lookout for new promising projects to add to their portfolio.
Like most projects in the same category, the ONIGIRI token is designed to be deflationary and double as a governance token. Furthermore, ONIGIRI will be rewarded for staking Uniswap/Sushiswap LP tokens and by providing liquidity to OnigiriSwap DEX upon migration.
With that said, DeFi is the mark of a new era where finance is no longer fully dependent on traditional banking institutions. More and more people are realizing the inefficiencies and lack of adaptability in traditional systems and many are turning to blockchain tech as the solution. And just like the dot com bubble gave birth to several tech behemoths like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, the DeFi space will birth its own behemoths as it matures.
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