Was 2020 a ‘DeFi year,’ and what is expected from the sector in 2021? Experts answer

Figuring out the point at which decentralized finance began almost always ends up in a rhetorical debate. Some argue that Bitcoin’s (BTC) invention a decade ago marked the start of it, as the major cryptocurrency was the first peer-to-peer digital money and represents the conceptual core underpinning DeFi. Others say — and would be technically correct in doing so — that DeFi started back in December 2017, when Ethereum-based protocol MakerDAO was launched, followed by Compound Finance and Uniswap, released in September and November 2018, respectively. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that DeFi’s true ascent started this year.

DeFi’s monumental rise in total value locked — starting this summer and surpassing $16 billion this month — has undoubtedly made the sector one of the most discussed topics of 2020. And, as expected, there are those who support it and those who criticize.

Brendan Blumer, CEO at Block.one:

Brian Brooks, acting comptroller of the currency of the United States Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency:

Da Hongfei, founder of Neo, founder and CEO of Onchain:

Dan Simerman, head of financial relations at the Iota Foundation:

Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation:

Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of AvaLabs, professor at Cornell University, co-director of IC3:

Heath Tarbert, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission:

Jimmy Song, instructor at Programming Blockchain:

Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum, founder of ConsenSys:

Mance Harmon, co-founder and CEO of Hedera Hashgraph and Swirlds Inc.:

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares:

Michael Zochowski, head of DeFi at Ripple:

Mike Belshe, CEO at BitGo:

Paul Brody, principal and global innovation leader of blockchain technology at Ernst & Young:

Roger Ver, executive chairman at Bitcoin.com:

Samson Mow, chief strategy officer at Blockstream:

Scott Freeman, co-founder and partner at JST Capital:

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