Despite any decline that you may have seen in September 2020, DeFi is still one of the hottest topics in these crypto streets. The only problem is that it moves so fast it makes it super hard to keep up with all the latest developments for each project.
So, I decided to come up with a list of go-to locations for you to be able to track all the latest happenings in DeFi from some well-researched blogs.
1. Bankless
Bankless was created by Ryan Sean Adams in December 2018 and is co-hosted with David Hoffman. The entire Bankless experience involves a blog, a podcast, and a YouTube channel. The blog releases daily articles while the podcast is weekly and is posted on YouTube.
Bankless is considered as one of the first DeFi blogs with their first-ever post introducing the world to the MakerDAO platform, the project that gave birth to DeFi.
The blog also runs a separate premium channel for investors that are looking for further information.
My Favourite Articles By Bankless;
- How to leverage yEarn to maximize yield - Ryan Sean Adams
- Are DeFi Tokens Worth Buying? - Lucas Campbell
- How to make money with Balancer - Ryan Sean Adams
- How to value crypto capital assets - Lucas Campbell
- Ether: The Birth of the Digital Bond -Stefan Coolican
- The Bankless Skill Cube -Ryan Sean Adams
My Favourite Podcasts/Videos By Bankless;
- How to Farm Yield with Stablecoins Using Curve Finance
- Ampleforth and AMPL | Co-Founder Brandon Iles
- SOTN #12: Positioning! w/ Mariano Conti (yEARN deep dive, ETH Golden Age, ETH P/E, Sushi!)
Why I Like Bankless
Although they have a premium section, it seems that Bankless continues to provide valuable information through their public blog. The entire ethos for the brand is to kick-start the revolution in which people become “Bankless,” and their team is doing everything they can to help people make this transition through their blog posts, podcasts, and tutorial videos.
The fact that Bankless launched in 2018 says a lot about their goals as it proves they are about the long term gains. They offer a perfect resource to any newcomer who hears the term “DeFi” and needs to learn about this open financial system from the very beginning.
I also love the fact that Bankless have a content schedule that sees them release resources throughout the entire week. The start of the week covers market rundowns, and it finishes on Saturdays with a weekly recap of what happened. In between, the Bankless team release articles and videos discussing different subjects from tactics, strategies, community discussions, and their weekly podcast titled “State of the Nation.”
What is great about them is the fact that they have carefully handpicked members to add to their writing team. This weeds out any authors that are merely trying to make a quick buck and leaves authors that are willing to write original work of high quality.
They make sure to keep all of their posts accessible to everybody, so you won’t be confused with any terminology as everything is explained well.
Overall, Bankless seems like the strongest DeFi blog and is undoubtedly the “go-to” location for any newcomers.
2. The Daily Gwei
The Daily Gwei was launched in June 2020 by Anthony Sassano. The blog provides daily updates on the entire DeFi and Ethereum ecosystem with a particular focus on the most significant events that occurred that day. So far, they have released around 70 blog posts and are all free (for now).
My Favourite Articles By The Daily Gwei;
- Maximize Your COMPensation - The Daily Gwei #8 - Anthony Sassano
- Uniswap vs SushiSwap - The Daily Gwei #62 - Anthony Sassano
- How the yETH Vault Works - The Daily Gwei #64 - Anthony Sassano
- DeFi Tokens, So Hot Right Now - The Daily Gwei #3 - Anthony Sassano
Why I Like The Daily Gwei;
This blog is very consistent. Since it launched, they have managed to post nearly every day. The blog posts are effortless to read, and the author makes sure that they are never too long - this means you can easily read them anytime you have a couple of minutes spare.
Sassano also makes sure to include outside data/stats/tweets from other users to back up any point he is trying to make as well as linking to other great blog posts that will take your knowledge further.
The blog is free right now, but the author has stated that he might start charging for access. Regardless of this, it seems that Sassano is happy to give all of his knowledge away, for now, and doesn't seem to hold back in his posts.
3. The Defiant
The Defiant was started by Camilla Russo in June 2019. Since launching, the blog has posted multiple times per week about the intersection of blockchain and finance - DeFi. Russo is a financial journalist who has worked at Bloomberg News in New York, Madrid, and Buenos Aires.
The blog has a free section to have access to news briefings, op-eds (delayed), exclusive interviews, and weekly recaps. There is also a paid section for 2 or 3 news briefings per week, exclusive interviews, early-access to interviews and op-ed posts, full access to the content, and a private subscriber chat.
My Favourite Articles By The Daily Gwei;
- Top DeFi Yield Farmers Share Secrets to a Profitable Harvest - Camila Russo
- Governance Token Wars; The Exit Scam that Wasn't; YFI Worth More than Bitcoin - Camila Russo
- A Chat With John Deere, The Anonymous Dev Behind Swerve, The Click here to pay with DAILatest DeFi Fork - Camila Russo
- A Faulty Oracle Will be Behind The Next Big Crypto Hack - Camila Russo
- DeFi10 Part 1: Lessons in Building a DeFi Portfolio - Camila Russo
- Ether is the Best Model for Money the World has Ever Seen -David Hoffman
Why I Like The Defiant;
It is clear that Camila Russo has extensive knowledge of the entire DeFi ecosystem - especially when we consider that she has been writing about it for well over a year now. Her prior experience as a financial journalist makes reading her articles a treat as they are well researched and written.
Russo is entirely consistent with her work, and the free posts are available daily, even with a delay. Typically, paid subscriptions are not my thing; however, I would be willing to give Russo a try considering her level of experience in the game.
4. DeFi Rate Newsletter
DeFi Rate has its newsletter, which is very handy to subscribe to. The newsletter was started by Lucas Campbell (an analyst from Bankless) and has been running since March 2020. They cover everything from the most prominent deals closed to any interesting integrations that might have occurred during the week.
Lucas Campbell seems to write the majority of the newsletters. However, other authors also contribute.
My Favourite Articles By DeFi Rate;
- This week in DeFi - September 4th - Cooper Turley
- This week in DeFi - August 28th - Lucas Campbell
- This week in DeFi - August 21st - Lucas Campbell
- This week in DeFi - August 14th - Lucas Campbell
Why I Like The DeFi Rate Newsletter;
The newsletter has been running for a few months now, and they have consistently improved over time. They make sure to cover all of the happenings that are important during the current week. Each post is in-depth, and they contain lots of links and images to make the content easier to digest.
5. Dose Of DeFi
The Dose of Defi was created in August 2019 by Chris Powers. He covers DeFi related topics every week on his blog with some very insightful posts. Powers is a senior associate at Z-Ben and has held positions at BTC Labs and Concourse Open Community.
My Favourite Articles By Dose Of Defi;
- CRV, YAM, distribution costs & games - Chris Powers
- Maker vs. Compound - Chris Powers
- Curve's Moat, DEX volume growth - Chris Powers
- Uniswap proves yield farming is not required for growth - Chris Powers
Why I Like Dose Of DeFi;
Powers writes with no filler content. Everything is straight to the point. The author’s posts are very well researched and are quite long, which makes them very informative. He makes sure to break the content up with lots of images to help describe his positioning. Additionally, Powers also includes links to the new resources he feels that you would need to read to keep up-to-date with the latest happenings in DeFi.
On top of this, Chris is very consistent and managed to get his posts out every single week since starting in August 2019.
6. DeFi Weekly
DeFi Weekly is a DeFi blog that posts weekly updates on the latest macro trends in the DeFi space. It was created by Kerman Kohli, a budding entrepreneur who likes to start new ventures in April 2019, and he has been posting his blogs every week.
His blog primarily focuses on DeFi from his perspective, developed through being an entrepreneur and engineer.
My Favourite Articles By DeFi Weekly;
- $YFI & The Acceleration of Crypto Networks - Kerman Kohli
- Part 1: DeFi Madness ft Curve, iEarn & Stable-Coin Whales - Kerman Kohli
- How YFI v2 Works - Kerman Kohli
- 3 Simple Yield Farming Strategies - Kerman Kohli
- Tales from a Yield Farmer - Kerman Kohli
Why I Like Weekly DeFi;
The main thing I love about Kerman’s posts is the fact that they are written solely from his perspective. He does not seem to write for his audience but more for himself to get his thoughts out - and it works very well for the readers!
Although he posts from his perspective, his writing style is straightforward to understand the subject, and he posts lots of images to make the content much more comfortable to digest. Nobody likes a massive text wall!
