DeFi
Financial services rebuilt as code on public blockchains — how they work and how they break.
Start with
- DeFi · Beginner
What is DeFi?
Financial services run by smart contracts: how they work, who controls them and where the risks hide.
Every explainer in DeFi
- DeFi · Intermediate
Liquidity pools and impermanent loss
Why a liquidity provider can trail a simple hold — with the numbers for every price move.
- DeFi · Intermediate
What is a blockchain oracle?
How prices and other outside data reach smart contracts — and what happens when they are wrong.
- DeFi · Beginner
What is TVL (total value locked)?
How DeFi's headline size figure is calculated, why it double-counts, and what it cannot tell you.
Terms used in this section
Glossary A–Z →- APR vs APY
Simple rate versus compounded yield, with the official formula and a worked example.
- Depeg
When a stablecoin slips from $1: causes, the 2023 USDC case and the UST collapse.
- Gas fee
What you pay to get an Ethereum transaction processed, with the formula worked through.
- Rug pull
When project creators raise money and disappear with it — how it works and the warning signs.
- Slippage
Why a swap fills at a different price than quoted, and how slippage tolerance limits it.
Other sections
All sections →Crypto Basics
What crypto is, how blockchains and wallets work
02Networks & Ecosystems
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, layer 2s and smart contracts
04Stablecoins & Payments
How dollar-pegged tokens work and where they break
05Fintech
Card rails, open banking, digital banks, instant payments, CBDCs
06Markets & Macro
Inflation, interest rates, ETFs and how markets move
07Regulation
Who regulates what: SEC, CFTC, MiCA, AML rules and tax basics