CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his mobile payments company Square has created a new division dedicated to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. For now, Dorsey is referring to the new Square Bitcoin DeFi platform as TBD, having not yet decided on an official name.
- The DeFi space, which has grown exponentially over last year, is touted as a new way to provide greater consumer access to financial services. DeFi services can range from loans and trading to insurance and savings accounts — without having to go through traditional intermediaries like banks.
- While Bitcoin in itself could be considered the original example of DeFi — as the first cryptocurrency based on cutting traditional intermediaries out of financial transactions — the majority of the DeFi industry, for now, is built on Ethereum. In terms of the DeFi boom of 2020, Bitcoin has taken more of a back seat and has been defined more as an investment product or store of value rather than a currency for payments or a smart-contract platform for hosting decentralized applications (DApps).
