Fintech

Recently, financial services startup BlockFi came under fire for failing to properly register its services—more specifically, the BlockFi Interest Accounts—as securities. The company had to pay US$100 million as a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Launched in 2017, this U.S.-based company gained popularity for providing high-interest loans to its users.

Imagine Facebook, but without Mark Zuckerberg at its helm—sounds relieving, right? Well, that’s the concept of decentralized applications, or dApps. They are apps—akin to those on your phone—but without a single authority or entity controlling them. Today, there are approximately 4,000 dApps, with most of them existing on Ethereum. What’s more? Since October 2021, between 60 and 70 dApps have been launched every month.

Cryptocurrency has been changing the traditional banking system. In fact, recently, during the Indian budget meeting on February 1, 2022, the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, proposed a 30 percent tax on income earned from digital assets. While it may seem like a significant amount, the move shows that the country has recognized cryptocurrency as a financial asset that affects the economy.

In August 2021, India-based blockchain startup Polygon decided to build the country’s first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)—an organization run by its members, without any leader, on a blockchain. With the DAO, the startup aims to give users decision-making power to influence and even map out the startup’s future.

Be it for startups launching Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs) on decentralized exchanges (DEX) or cryptocurrency traders—liquidity pools have become indispensable. Liquidity pools are the virtual places where trading happens and companies make money. Before understanding their mechanism, let’s take a look at what they are.