DeFi refers to a suite of financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, yield generation — built on public blockchains, primarily Ethereum. It aims to replicate and disintermediate traditional finance without banks or intermediaries. At its peak in 2021, over $180 billion was locked in DeFi protocols.
Tether (USDT) is the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalisation and trading volume. It is issued by Tether Limited and claims to be fully backed by US dollar reserves. USDT is the primary trading pair on most cryptocurrency exchanges globally.
A decentralised exchange (DEX) allows users to trade cryptocurrencies directly from their wallets using smart contracts, with no central intermediary and without giving up custody of funds. Automated Market Makers replaced traditional order books with liquidity pools.
A Crypto Winter refers to an extended bear market in the cryptocurrency space — characterised by sustained price declines of 70–90% from peak values, collapsed trading volumes, project failures, and industry layoffs. Major crypto winters occurred in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
FTX was once the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. In November 2022, a report revealed FTX's balance sheet was dominated by its own FTT token. A bank run ensued, revealing an $8 billion hole — customer funds had been secretly lent to SBF's trading firm Alameda Research.