Gerard: What is cryptocurrency? About DeFi . More information on the site: https://feedsportal.com/decentralized-finance-is-due-to-take-off-this-year/ . Cryptocurrency is digital money. They differ from conventional ones in two main ways. Independence. Cryptocurrencies are not tied to any existing currency, oil price, or any other assets. Virtuality. Cryptocurrency exists only in the digital space, stored in an electronic wallet. Cryptocurrency has no Central Bank-type regulator. The only issue of digital money is "mining" by users who run applications. For using the resources (computer power) they are paid a certain amount of virtual money. The more powerful the computer, the more "mining" there is. To exchange the cryptocurrency for real money you can use the virtual services, exchangers such as Qiwi. ATM exchangers have recently begun to work in Moscow. What cryptocurrencies exist? There are thousands of them. Yes, it all started with bitcoin, which appeared in 2009. The boom in the popularity of digital coins began three or four years later. And now there are about 300 kinds of cryptocurrencies traded on the largest exchange. Anyone advanced in technology, even a schoolboy, can write their own cryptocurrency. And this is not a metaphor: tech-savvy schoolchildren really create their own cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are written in much the same way that programs are written. The "ready-made" digital coin needs to be put on an exchange