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LESSONS

DeFi, NFTs and tokens

Most of "crypto" is finance with the protections removed. Yield comes from lending or token printing; NFTs are links; tokens are unregistered equity.

5 MIN READ
A stack decoding DeFi yield, NFTs, utility tokens and stablecoins.
LEVEL · Intermediate
IN THIS LESSON · 5 OF 8
BY THE END YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER
  • Where does "DeFi yield" come from?
  • What does buying an NFT usually give you?

Then prove it: a 2-question quiz. The lesson marks itself complete at 100%.

The parts of "crypto" that are not Bitcoin are mostly familiar financial products rebuilt without the rules, plus some things that are not products at all.

"DeFi" and yield

If something pays you 8% to hold it, ask where the 8% comes from. There are two answers: someone is borrowing your coins (and may not return them), or the protocol is printing new tokens to pay you (which dilutes everyone, including you). Bitcoin has no native yield because it has no issuer and no borrower built in. "Bitcoin yield" products are lending products, and 2022 showed how those end: Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager and FTX all paid yield until they could not.

NFTs

A non-fungible token is usually a pointer, stored on a chain, to an image hosted somewhere else. The image can vanish; the chain can be rolled back; the marketplace can delist. The 2021 mania was a collectibles bubble with a technology story attached. There are honest uses for unique digital records; the mania was not one of them.

Tokens

Most tokens are shares in a project, sold to the public without the disclosure a share sale would require. Insiders hold the majority, the supply schedule is whatever the foundation decides, and the token's purpose is to be sold. About 90% of retail crypto traders lose money, and the top ten tokens have trailed a bitcoin-only strategy over every multi-year period.

The common thread

All of these have a centre: an issuer, a foundation, a company, a lender. Bitcoin's value proposition is the absence of exactly that. Adding "crypto" to a bitcoin position does not diversify it; it adds counterparty and issuer risk that bitcoin was designed to remove.

Deep Dive into DeFi · ExplainerWatch on YouTube ↗
CHECK YOURSELF
1/2 Where does "DeFi yield" come from?
2/2 What does buying an NFT usually give you?
pick an answer for each question

SOURCES

  1. Crypto vs. Bitcoin (River)
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