Over the last 12 months, the remarkable growth in decentralized finance has been driven by one thing: the ability of users to earn strong yields on their crypto assets by lending, staking and providing liquidity. Depending on your risk appetite, gains from DeFi investments can run tens or even hundreds of times higher than standard returns in the traditional markets.

Even if those kinds of yields don’t last forever, DeFi offers significant promise to transform the financial markets in the long term. At the start of this year, former U.S. acting comptroller of the currency Brian Brooks predicted (I think, accurately) that “self-driving banks” would be a reality before self-driving cars will be able to fly.

1. The credit score is computed in a secure enclave (a special, highly secure computer chip).
2. The credit score, as well as proof-of-computation, is uploaded to the blockchain.
3. The proof-of-computation is verified by the smart contract.