Beginning with the Luna collapse, to more recently Celsius Network, Voyager and FTX insolvencies; catastrophic events have fueled already existing campaigns of “FUD” (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) surrounding cryptocurrencies. For some time now within “crypto” there has been a great fear around regulation and “centralized” anything to those looking in with a desire for increased centralization and “much needed” regulation. The loudest and most popular narrative as of late has been the reemergence of “not your keys, not your coins” and “DeFi.” The buzz around Decentralized Finance doesn’t speak as much to its virtues as it is a war against Centralized Exchanges and the potential dangers of keeping your crypto inside of them. While at the same time private keys, digital to cold wallets and Decentralized Finance applications receive such praise in the mainstream narrative; mass adaption is far from here. Or is it?
As of today, “not your keys, not your crypto” really means “not our problem” when it comes to receiving technical help and support within the world of DeFi protocols and the necessary accoutrements. Some would argue that the whole point of Decentralized Finance is for you to assume responsibility; hence there are no safety nets. Utilizing a cold storage wallet or digital wallet gives you about the same security as an email account; and people are entrusting, supposed to entrust tens of thousands of dollars? Hundreds of thousands of dollars? If you have a problem you go to a Twitter stream or Telegram account? Or send an e-mail?
DeFi needs to instill the same familiarity, convenience and consumer confidence as a Visa/Mastercard credit card company. Not even that of a bank, where once money is taken out of your savings or checking, it is a difficult process to contest charges and get money back – a credit card company is instantaneous at remedying situations once you reach a representative. Credit Card companies are king of customer service and technical help and support within the current financial world. And Visa and Mastercard have been observing, listening and are poised to jump into Decentralized Finance.
A Visa or Mastercard that pairs with a Polygon Matic to Balancer or Compound would open markets within numerous demographics. That is the partnership that catapults DeFi into the mainstream. When an individual can have assets in a secure defi environment; receive all the benefits of holding and utilizing said assets within the quantum financial system; and be extended a credit limit commensurate to their holdings? That is the Eureka moment. When a person can “spend”/use credit – and they are not spending their holdings, they are not borrowing against their holdings/cryptos; they aren’t using any sort of leverage; merely spending credit. At the end of each month, the individual has the opportunity to pay off the entire balance however they see fit, or carry the balance over to the next month and pay a percentage/fee to said DeFi protocol.
If an individual has their information stolen and fraudulent charges are made; the person will be assisted with immediacy. And no “funds” were exposed or lost. People who used FTX to Celsius Network, they lost their valuable digital assets; they lost their cryptocurrency. The monetary value of the crypto at the time of their insolvencies is not nearly as important as the crypto itself; the Bitcoin, the XRP, the Ethereum – all gone. Losing your crypto as an early adaptor and investor is far more catastrophic than losing money; you are losing your future dreams, hope and aspirations. You’re losing new age digital assets that are far more valuable than money, because they can generate and create money.
People are being told to distrust centralized exchanges like the publicly traded Coinbase that is heavily regulated; yet trust DeFi? DeFi with a Discord or Telegram or automated e-mail support, that ultimately cannot solve anything? It is mixed messaging. It doesn’t instill safety, comfort, familiarity and convenience. That is why it is unwise for a novice or someone just getting into crypto to dive right into a digital wallet and begin using DeFi. Even at this time when a DeFi environment like a Uniswap now allows individuals to directly connect a bank account or credit card to buy crypto, it is still a far safer bet to entrust money to a publicly traded centralized exchange like a Coinbase, or a Binance, or Kraken; then to utilize any coupling of digital wallets and DeFi environments.
Business Anthropologist Anthony Galima hopes to change this. For years he has been trying to get in touch with and procure a position within Polygon Matic. He has written about DeFi extensively, introduced hundreds of individuals to various environments and communicated solutions that would facilitate mainstream adaption to key players. Working one on one with people of all ages globally has allowed him to have his finger on the pulse as to what is holding most individuals back from taking the leap into DeFi.
Some information he has shared on Twitter has been liked and noticed by Sandeep/Polygon’s Co-Founder. Currently Mr. Galima is up for consideration for the position of Global Defi Business Development Lead. This article was written in an effort to supplement his candidacy. When it comes to the world of “crypto” – almost everything runs on Ethereum. Ethereum is made better; is made more efficient, effective and accessible through Polygon. Polygon’s DeFi environment is already the best, and in time it will prove to be universally known and commonplace in DeFi to NFTs and the Meta.
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