Decentralized finance versus traditional finance: Key differences

Something we say a lot here on the Bloomberg Crypto team is, “everything old is new in crypto.” And what we mean by that is that while there’s a perception that ideas like the blockchain are novel and groundbreaking, the reality is there’s lots of precedents for concepts like DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) or ICOs (initial coin offerings). This is particularly clear right now, as crypto experiences its own version of a “Bear Stearns moment.” Which all begs the question: Is decentralized finance just reinventing traditional finance with more complexity and a sprinkling of blockchain? Or is there genuine novelty here?  Bloomberg Opinion columnist Matt Levine and Bloomberg reporter Muyao Shen join host Stacy-Marie Ishmael on this episode.

–By Victoria Vergolina (Bloomberg)