


Numerous tokens have risen in value by three or four times in a year – and some considerably more. It is now around US$15 billion, almost double the beginning of the month. This has driven a massive rise in the value (market capitalisation) of all the tradeable tokens that are used for DeFi smart contracts. Since the beginning of August alone it has risen by US$2.9 billion. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here.īetween September 2017 and the time of writing, the total value locked up in DeFi contracts has exploded from US$2.1 million to US$6.9 billion (£1.6 million to £5.3 billion). This refers to financial services using smart contracts, which are automated enforceable agreements that don’t need intermediaries like a bank or lawyer and use online blockchain technology instead. One area in cryptocurrencies attracting huge attention is DeFi or decentralised finance.
