I work at Optimism and leading a defi research project. I’m at the point where I have gotten existential and wonder to myself, wtf are we building. 

Zooming out, what is the point of defi? Do we need half of these applications that offer only slight modifications to base primitives?

Strong feelings only.

Eternal optimist.
defi partnerships @optimism

I’m a firm believer in the core promise of DeFi as an open financial system open to anyone that offers an alternative to traditional markets.

If you live in a wealthy country, it seems like we’re just building an onchain casino.

I’d encourage you to talk to users in countries where censorship…

Head of Community @nexusmutual | Safe Governance delegate | Researching risk in DeFi

…there’s still a lot of bullshit that doesn’t need to be here. Do we need another Aave, Compound, or Uniswap fork with added token incentives?

No, no we don’t.

80% of the protocols here now won’t be in the next cycle. 95%+ won’t be here in 10 years.

This means focusing on core primitives that make a difference; that people need; & that can further the mission of open finance onchain.

It’s frustrating when profit over principles is the norm but we’re starting to see a return to decentralized ethos onchain.

I hope this cycle is better re: cypherpunk principles

…or inflation is a core issue in daily life. Crypto assets offer a store of value that helps them preserve their purchasing power & DeFi apps give them a way to easily save without worry that their funds can be taken by a government organization for arbitrary reasons.

Crypto + DeFi has made a difference but…