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Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • The point of secured DEFI borrowing

    In traditional finance secured loans generally use an illiquid asset (like a house) – something which isn’t easy to sell quickly – to borrow a liquid asset, like money. In the crypto version of a secured loan, one liquid asset is used to borrow a different liquid asset, so what’s the point? There are plenty…

  • How DEFI Lending works

    In the context of the layered structure of DEFI, a borrowing and lending protocol will consist of a number of Smart Contracts (the Protocol Layer) the function of which are simplified into a dApp/website (Application Layer).  The Protocol will be supported by one or more blockchains (Settlement Layers) charging fees to confirm DEFI transactions in…

  • How does DEFI work?

    To understand how DEFI borrowing and lending work it helps to summarise how decentralised finance functions. There are five distinct layers: The Settlement Layer  This is where any transactions and balance changes are recorded. In traditional finance, this would be a bank, but in DEFI the role of the central authority is replaced by a…

  • DEFI automated borrowing & lending?

    Automated DEFI borrowing and lending offer crypto users the two most fundamental banking services, earning interest on crypto deposits or paying interest to borrow crypto at interest, but crucially with the bank removed from the equation. DEFI – decentralised finance – works on a purely Peer-to-Peer level. Users hold their assets in crypto wallets like…

  • Creating your own NFT 

    Making your own NFT is probably the best way to understand the concept and generate potential value. You have control over what assets you want to be represented, and there is little cost aside from time and effort (and transaction fees).   Creating an NFT is known as minting, and various platforms facilitate this process. The…

  • Investing in NFTs 

    For now, though, where does one start with NFTs? And what are the essential things to look for when investing?  Non-fungible tokens can be purchased on many NFT marketplaces, including Rarible, OpenSea, Enjin Marketplace with many more opening up all the time. You’ll need to have a crypto wallet set up to access these sites; they support…

  • Innovations enabled by NFTs 

    The recorded ownership status provided by NFTs has led to some exciting innovations. Given the way NFTs provide an easily accessible ownership history, the value of an asset can be directly affected by its provenance. For example, if a famous art collector purchases a piece of art via an NFT, the mere fact than an…

  • How an NFT works 

    NFTs work by storing information that can identify them as unique. They store this information in smart contracts. Smart contracts are sets of instructions written in code and stored on a blockchain. These smart contracts allow for detailed information to be added and permanently tied to an asset.  Primarily, NFTs are used to prove digital…

  • Unwrapping NFTs

    What you’ll learn What is an NFT How do NFTs work How to earn crypto from investing NFTs How to create your own NFTs NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens, unique representations of the ownership of assets immutably recorded in blockchains. Early adopters are using them to represent their claim on digital collectables, artwork and many other…

  • Where Defi is headed next

    At the moment, decentralised finance is still tiny compared to the rest of the financial world, but is growing quickly, and its users are predominantly tech-savvy cryptocurrency holders. The core concepts of decentralised finance – open access, transparency, and equality – make it appealing to a huge market, including the unbanked and the hard to…

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