Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper is titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.
It’s the modern-day equivalent of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which protested the corruption and fraud of the Catholic Church in 1517, and launched the Protestant Reformation.
Only this time, Satoshi envisioned a peer-to-peer way to transfer electronic cash outside the purview of corrupt governments and financial institutions.
And when he mined the first blockchain on January 3, 2009, he embedded a message: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
It was the headline article in a British newspaper that day.
After “too big to fail” banks were bailed out again, Satoshi was adamant about creating a new, better financial system from the ground up.
But peer-to-peer transfers were just the start of this financial revolution. The biggest adoption of cryptocurrency will happen as we decentralize traditional financial activity on blockchains.
Today, 16 years later, Satoshi’s grand vision appears ready to become reality. In the next few months, I expect Trump’s crypto task force to begin rolling back the red tape that’s held innovation back for so long.
That’s why I want to take a deep dive into a “blue chip” decentralized financial protocol today.
If you aren’t familiar with these protocols already, you’ll be hearing a lot about them in the near future.
The Maker Protocol
Before I joined Banyan Hill, I was featured on another platform called RealVision. I was the first cryptocurrency expert they interviewed, and I talked about how Decentralized Finance was going to reshape the financial markets.
The cryptocurrency I discussed back then, Maker, is still going strong.
Maker is a smart contract lending platform.
It lets users take out loans by locking crypto on a smart contract in exchange for a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
The goal of this crypto platform is to offer economic freedom and financial services to anyone anywhere, without the need for banks or intermediaries.
All you need is a smartphone and an internet connection.
In 2017, Maker launched the governance token (MKR) and the first version of its stablecoin, Single Collateral Dai (SAI), which used Ether (ETH) as collateral.
The MKR token gives holders a say in how the Maker system operates. We’ve talked about this before…
Instead of having a CEO or a central bank making decisions, people who own MKR get to vote on important choices, like what assets can be used as collateral for loans and how much borrowers need to put down.
It’s like being a shareholder in a company, except instead of voting on executives, you’re helping decide the rules of a decentralized financial system.
SAI, on the other hand, was the first version of Maker’s stablecoin.
Unlike regular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which have wild price swings, SAI was designed to always be worth $1.
To get it, users had to lock up their ETH as collateral in Maker’s smart contracts.
This allowed people to borrow a stable currency without relying on a bank.
But there was a big problem with this initial coin. SAI only worked with ETH, which meant the entire system depended on one asset.
That’s why, in 2019, Maker replaced SAI with Multi-Collateral Dai (DAI), which could be backed by different types of crypto.
This made the platform more flexible and stable, allowing more people to use it.
Today, Maker is the largest decentralized lending platform. And the amount of money it pulls in is astounding.
Over the last year, it earned a whopping $148.5 million in annualized revenue.
In the last 24 hours alone, Maker made $1.15 million in fees.
And Maker isn’t the only DeFi platform raking in this kind of money every day.
Tether, a company that issues the USDT stablecoin, earned over $18 million in fees yesterday.
While another leading lending platform called Aave made $990,000 in fees yesterday.
These are real businesses making real money.
And most of these platforms have even more money locked up.
The Bank Deposits of DeFi
Maker’s total value locked (TVL) is $3.84 billion.
What does that mean?
TVL represents the total U.S. dollar value of assets locked in a blockchain application, similar to deposits in a traditional bank.
The higher the TVL, the more confidence investors and developers have in a platform.
Think of it like this: when you take out a mortgage, you put down a down payment. That down payment is then locked up as collateral until the loan is repaid.
In crypto, users stake digital assets to access loans or other financial services, and those assets remain locked in the platform while in use.
TVL is a key measure of success because it shows how much value is actively engaged in a network.
Again, there’s $3.84 billion locked in Maker today. That’s more than some small U.S. banks hold in customer deposits.
Yet Aave’s TVL is a staggering $16.9 billion.
So you can see how there’s a massive financial ecosystem growing in the crypto space today.
But with billions of dollars at stake, it’s also clear why Trump’s crypto task force needs to establish clear rules for regulating these crypto businesses.
Because these platforms don’t just resemble banks, they can also behave like securities markets.
For example, Aave is a crypto platform similar to Maker. It offers users the opportunity to lend or borrow money.
However, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that governs Aave recently put forward a proposal to buy back AAVE tokens, starting with $1 million worth each week.
That’s like a company buying back its own stock.
By reducing the supply of AAVE on the market, the goal is to strengthen the token’s value while also improving liquidity. Because when you decrease the amount of tokens, even if the market cap stays the same, the price goes up.
Just like with stock buybacks.
The idea is to make sure the people helping secure and govern Aave see direct benefits from the platform’s success.
And Aave plans to redistribute some of its extra revenue directly to participants in the ecosystem.
So far, it’s been a boon for current stakeholders. Soon after this announcement the price of Aave’s token gained 20%.
Yet it also brings up important questions…
After all, these platforms don’t just resemble banks. They function as lending markets, payment systems and investment vehicles all at once.
Does that mean these platforms are operating as unlicensed banks? Do their tokens function like unregistered securities?
And what’s this environment going to look like going forward?
Here’s My Take
Trump’s crypto task force has its work cut out for it.
Right now, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are battling over whether certain cryptocurrencies should be classified as securities or commodities.
And there is ongoing debate over whether stablecoins should fall under banking regulations.
The task force needs to ensure that these issues are resolved.
It also needs to ensure that crypto businesses are regulated in a way that allows them to benefit from being decentralized yet still offers their stakeholders some protection.
And with the IRS increasing scrutiny on crypto transactions, the task force should also review tax policies, exemptions and reporting thresholds.
But these issues can be solved with some foresight.
With the proper regulations in place, crypto businesses like Maker and Aave have the potential to truly go mainstream.
And this will solidify Satoshi’s vision of a decentralized financial system, built from the ground up.
Regards,
Ian KingChief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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