I like the term "Open Finance" a lot better than DeFI. Especially "DeFI" as it has existed so far on Ethereum and other altcoins which are far more centralized.
I like this. I've used the word "open" before to describe what I think are the ideals of Bitcoin (and yes, shall we say, crypto).
As I said, I understand why the push for "decentralisation", but I don't comprehend the hasty labeling of it, and by proxy, the disdain for anything that's not "purely" decentralised. I accept the pipe dream, but I also accept the need for a guiding hand in the beginning, and then the concept of that allowing for open directions henceforth. That's how Bitcoin started, did it not? On a closed mailing list, and then on the sole computer, then with other peers, and then its current model (which yes, may have accents of centralisation but not against the idea of open development).
I think anyone already using Bitcoin, signing transactions, accepting Bitcoin, etc. They have no need to ask themselves about "oh, am I ready for defi?". They're already doing better than that!
I guess I'd say the point of making a clear distinction between something that is very decentralized (bitcoin) with something that has moderate decentralization and in many ways is quite centralized (crypto) is so that the average person has some idea of what they are getting into haha. Loads of people think any random altcoin is decentralized and therefore they think they are "safe" because bitcoin is safe and they don't know the vast differences between bitcoin and crypto. They think it all the same thing, which means people get into very risky things thinking they are safe simply because crypto is associated with Bitcoin.
Just like if you are gonna sign up at a crypto exchange, you would certainly want to know whether it is a really popular and fairly safe exchange, or just some random exchange with hardly any users or track record.
I use the term "Open Finance" because DeFi literally uses blockchains that can be considered quite centralized. So calling it DeFi gives people a false idea of what it actually is. Nothing much decentralized about using apps with random tokens totally owned and sold off by a company for the purpose of making profit. That's not decentralized finance, that's corporate finance (and insanely risky), but since it at least is crypto and not the walled gardens of the finance/banking industry I think it should be as differentiated from traditional finance just as it needs to be differentiated from Bitcoin's decentralization, so Open Finance makes the most sense I think. Not decentralized, not safe, but open and available to anyone unlike traditional finance.
