The original post: /r/cryptocurrency by /u/MusaRilban on 2024-12-29 21:39:53.

DeFi: Decentralised Finance. We’ve heard the term “DeFi” a million times, but what does it actually mean? And what was DeFi Summer all about?

DeFi’s been knocking about for years, but it went nuclear last cycle with Ethereum’s rise and all the Layer 2 madness. Suddenly, everyone was diving headfirst into it. DEXs like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and SushiSwap (Sushi wars anyone?) blew up, and their tokens were minting like mad.

Fast forward to now—AI’s is trendy, and everyone’s crapping themselves over quantum computing. You’ve even got quantum-focused cryptos trying to steal the spotlight. Bit hard to value if you and me as I’m not sure we can really predict what quantum computing will do to finance as a whole, nevermind crypto.

My question is: does DeFi still have a place? Its original rise caught loads of people off guard, so could something else just as unexpected sneak in this time?

DeFi popped off hardest during 2021. Loads of people piled in, chasing crazy APY returns. I won’t lie I was chasing it too and thought that shit would never end. Remember LUNA? Yeah, that promised the world and ended up taking everyone to hell.

It has to be said that the large APY returns proved a lot of the haters right… That shit just was NOT sustainable.

What I’m wondering is, do we reckon APY greed will pull people back into crypto? Or has that phase passed?

For me, all signs are pointing at SushiSwap.

Konnichiwa, Regards.

SushiSwap had a mad December, pumping hard and even gaining against BTC—a rare sight these days. DeFi still seems to have eyes on it, and I reckon we could see the hype really kick off come spring 2025.

What about you lot? Any of you deep in DeFi projects? Locking your equity for sexy APYs? And what chains are you betting on for the next DeFi boom? Or is it AI/LLM/ random shit like FIL that you think will get the most attention?