DeFi architect Andre Cronje said it’s time to give up on the inaccurate term “decentralized finance”

Andre Cronje, best known for creating the popular yield aggregator Yearn Finance (YFI), recently argued on Twitter that the DeFi sector should ditch the old buzzword and stop calling itself “decentralized”–in favour of a more accurate descriptive term.

Although Cronje, who made a substantial contribution to the DeFi space, is ready to “retire” the coined term–not everyone agrees that it’s time to abandon the ideology.

Terminology

“Time to retire “decentralized finance,” wrote the prolific developer, known for his unique opinions.

Time to retire "decentralized finance". We aren't decentralized, the old guard will keep trying to use it as their "attack" vector. "Open finance" or "web3 finance" is probably most accurate.

— Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) December 7, 2021

“We aren’t decentralized, the old guard will keep trying to use it as their “attack” vector,” he added in a disheartening tone, as he proposed a couple of alternative coined terms.

According to Cronje, “open finance” or “web3 finance” present some better-suited options that would describe the sector more accurately.

Cronje’s unreserved commentary is tough to challenge–thanks to his vast experience and track record.

After launching Yearn in 2020, Andre made a move that granted him a somewhat legendary status in the crypto community–he chose to distribute all YFI tokens amongst liquidity providers, without withholding any for himself, or the Yearn development fund. 

Some of Cronje’s recent projects include the decentralized stablecoin exchange protocol Fixed Forex, and Keep3r Network, which facilitates the interaction between those looking for external developers and job executors–known as Keepers. He was also involved in developing Fantom–a highly scalable Layer 1 blockchain.

While some industry insiders agreed with Cronje, others argued that decentralization represents a spectrum.

Jacob Franek, the former co-founder at crypto market analytic CoinMetrics, said he’s been “pumping ‘open finance’ since 2018.”

Been pumping “open finance” since 2018 https://t.co/ECeo8TkaSy

— Jacob Franek (Hiring for DAOs) (@panekkkk) December 8, 2021

Ideology

However, not everyone is ready to abandon the terminology–nor the ideology.

“​​I respectfully disagree”– chimed in Terraform Labs Co-Founder and CEO, Do Kwon.

I respectfully disagree.

The old guard wants to hoard power, we want to let go

DeFi has taught us that the less you own, the more you have – decentralization should always be the north star https://t.co/eqAQhHfXfb

— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) December 7, 2021

“The old guard wants to hoard power, we want to let go,” added Kwon in his response, arguing that “decentralization should always be the north star.”

Terraform Labs’ blockchain protocol Terra deploys a suite of algorithmic decentralized stablecoins, which, according to Kwon, are a lifeline of DeFi.

There is no DeFi without a decentralized stablecoin.

— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) July 8, 2021

The network’s UST stablecoin, promoted for its superior scalable design, is surging in popularity, –leveraging broad yield-bearing and interchain usage.

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