Decentralized finance (DeFi) is “recreating the entire financial system,” according to Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research and Bloomberg opinion columnist.
During a video interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Bianco said, “DeFi could disrupt the current financial system the way ride-sharing companies disrupted taxi companies or the internet disrupted newspapers, or e-commerce disrupted retailing.”
DeFi refers to the shift from traditional, centralized financial systems to decentralized platforms enabled by blockchain technologies. The DeFi space has witnessed explosive growth over the past 12 months, with advocates saying it will democratize finance by cutting out middlemen such as exchanges, lenders and insurance companies.
However, according to Bianco, DeFi is still evolving. “It’s nascent and buggy. It’s got problems, but they will solve those,” the Wall Street veteran said.
Bianco recently said he’s bullish on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. “Cryptocurrencies are starting to take on the properties of financial assets in that they seem to be impacted by financial market events,” Bianco said last week in a discussion about bitcoin’s price drop in the wake of rising bond yields.
Bitcoin is currently trading near $51,660, representing a 5.9% gain over 24 hours.