Fördelarna, möjligheterna och utmaningarna med decentraliserade finansiella tjänster

Abstract

Blockchains have become a popular subject during the last couple of years. They have evolved from transaction ledgers to platforms that can host various types of applications ranging from financial services to gaming. The decentralized financial applications have been some of the most popular on the Ethereum blockchain and these applications provide services ranging from lending to asset management. Decentralized finance is still a quite new phenomenon, and the current theory about decentralized finance is still quite limited. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the potential benefits and risks of decentralized financial application on the Ethereum blockchain. This will be conducted by analyzing the empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews. The data was collected from Finnish professionals who are directly in contact with some parts of these decentralized financial applications. The topics discussed revolve around implementation and adoption of these applications on a larger scale. As well as the benefits, risks and possibilities of decentralized finance. The topic of regulation is also discussed. The results of the interviews give a comprehensive view of the risks, benefits and possibilities of decentralized finance. The benefits of decentralized finance are associated with increased efficiency in transactions as well as in the fact that it is permissionless. The greatest current risks according to the data are technical ones. Exploits and bugs are still a major concern on these platforms. The most likely outcome for decentralized finance according to the data is that it will continue to grow and become a larger part of the global financial system.