A mechanism-first walkthrough of decentralized finance that explains how the plumbing actually works, not which farm to chase this week. Each part builds on the previous one, moving from the base primitives (tokens, wallets, gas) through AMMs, lending, stablecoins, and oracles, then up to the real risks — impermanent loss, liquidation cascades, and smart-contract exploits — so readers can evaluate any DeFi protocol on their own terms.
DeFi replaces banks and brokers with public smart contracts. Here is what that actually means, mechanically, and why one change cascades into everything else.
6 min read · beginner
Before you swap, lend, or farm anything, you need to understand the three primitives every DeFi interaction depends on: your wallet, gas, and token approvals.
7 min read · beginner
An automated market maker uses a simple formula, x times y equals k, to price every trade. Here is what that means, with $100 examples.
3 min read · beginner
DeFi lending explained with a worked example: deposit collateral, borrow against it, watch the health factor, and understand how liquidations actually fire.
8 min read · intermediate
Three stablecoins labelled $1 can rest on wildly different foundations. Learn how fiat-backed, crypto-backed, and algorithmic designs actually work — and fail.
9 min read · intermediate
Impermanent loss is the hidden cost of being an AMM liquidity provider. Here's the math, a reference table, and a checklist to decide if the fees are worth it.
4 min read · intermediate
Smart contracts are sealed from the outside world by design. Oracles are the signed conduits that pipe prices in — and the single point where DeFi most often breaks.
10 min read · advanced
DeFi's composability lets protocols stack like Lego, but it also means one oracle glitch or depeg can cascade across lending, AMMs, and stablecoins in minutes.
10 min read · advanced
