DeFi refers to “decentralized finance,” an effort to transform the financial-services industry by making transactions faster, cheaper, and more secure.

Still in its infancy, DeSci lies at the intersection of two broader trends: 1) efforts within the scientific community to change how research is funded and knowledge is shared, and 2) efforts within the crypto-focused movement to shift ownership and value away from industry intermediaries.

-Compound, for example, is a lending protocol built on ETH with $10b+ of crypto available for borrowing. The creators could go away tomorrow and the code will still run.