The full name of DeFi is Decentralized Finance, which is "decentralized finance" or "distributed finance". Compared with traditional centralized finance, it refers to applications in various financial fields established in an open decentralized network. Users no longer need to participate in the financial market with the assistance of centralized institutions, but can use the decentralized network. Open source software acquires, trades and lends assets. In layman's terms, it is to build a new financial system that is open to everyone, without the need for intermediaries such as banks.
The goal of DeFi is to build a multi-layered financial system, based on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, to recreate and improve the existing financial system.
Currently, almost all DeFi projects are carried out on the Ethereum blockchain, and smart contracts are the main building blocks of DeFi. The most common types of DeFi Dapps today are Compound, MakerDAO, Synthetix, decentralized exchanges (such as Uniswap, MetaTdex), etc.