# Progress With DeFi

# DeFi has pioneered open, transparent, 24/7 systems for value exchange.

"The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work." - Satoshi Nakamoto

Cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi), have changed the way we think about finance, moving from traditional, centralized systems to decentralized, trustless ones.

Bitcoin (2009), was the first example of this new approach, creating bankless money. Ethereum (2015) created a shared computer that could run programs in a trustless way on a global scale.

This feature allowed for the deployment of trustless, decentralized finance applications (DeFi) that fluorished during the summer of 2020 and matured into an autonomous, error-free 24/7 financial system for the world.

However, the demand for DeFi applications outpaced wstETHereum's capacity, leading to the creation of Layer 2 solutions, which increased the system's ability to handle more transactions with lower transaction costs (gas).

In 2022, while traditional banks such as SVB, First Republic, and even globally systemically important banks (GSIBs) such as Credit Suisse struggled due to poor risk management, DeFi protocols operated seamlessly, suggesting their potential as a solid alternative to traditional systems.

Of course, DeFi remains plagued by issues such as hacks, scams, and uncaught bugs in code. These are growing pains constantly being iterated upon by existing hackers and builders.