DeFi(ing) the odds of financial inclusion

Indian government launched Unified Payment Interface in 2016 and it propelled India to be a leader in digital payments in 2020 surpassing China and US. The beauty of the UPI system is that I don’t need to know the bank detail of someone to send them money. I can send money to the phone number or a twitter like handle via any application authorized by UPI. The list of authorized apps are listed here by the NCPI of India. Sending money within India is now easire like sending someone a WhatsApp message.

UPI is a wonderful initiative but it involves banks and fiat money and all transactions are tracked and recorded. Now imagine a system that allows you to send money to anyone across the world without any bank’s or government interference and not pay a huge fees nor have to wait that long to receive the money. This is now a reality brought by blockchain and cryptocurrency. This decentralized currency circulation on a peer-to-peer network is really an alternative to the centralized monopolistic world. This is an epoch-making landmark in the world financial history. The day money got its freedom the bank and government.

You no longer need gold or land or building as collateral for your loan. Digital assets are accepted as collateral for your loans. Derivaties and various financial instruments are being redesigned with digital assets in mind. The lending and borrowing is now coded as smart contracts in the blockchain. DeFi is now the new tool replacing ICO in fund raising and circulation.