Today, we are discussing some DeFi or Decentralized Finance apps as required by the homework task posted by @yohan2on. We're focusing on 5 apps that he enumerated. Namely: Maker, Compound, Synthetix, bZx, and Uniswap.

We'll be discussing them briefly with some important point below:

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MakerDAO is a decentralized organization built on the blockchain of Ethereum. They provide means to allow lending and borrowing of cryptocurrencies even without the need for middle men to facilitate the transactions.

This DeFi app is composed of a smart contract service that is completely managing all the borrowing and lending, as well as 2 cryptocurrencies, namely: DAI and MKR, which they use to regulate the value of loans.

It is a part of the "DeFi" or decentralized finance movement - an umbrella term use to describe financial tools and services that no longer needs to rely on centralized parties to have coordination and control of accesses.

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Robert Leshner is the one who created Compound. He is a former economist and is the current CEO of Compound.

Compound is a company allowing investors to save cryptocurrencies and earn profits through it. It is based on the Etherum blockchain and has been part of the DeFi initiative.

How it works is investors can borrow cryptocurrency from Compound by using a collateral that is based on the threshold provided in the project they choose.

Other than the ability to earn interest with your cryptocurrency assets, which is actually a fairly straight forward process that just involves depositing your crypto in the platform of Compound and getting cTokens in return. Users also have the ability to borrow cryptocurrencies directly, not just the native tokens. The difference with borrowing cryptocurrencies is that you need to make sure to stay above the threshold of the collateral in conjunction with the loan that you are taking out. Just in case the collateral's value drops over a certain value, you might get liquidated - which prompts the system to automatically sell your collateral and pay the loan you had.

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Synthetix is built on the Eth blockchain and is a token trading platform. This platform allows creation of real world assets e.g stocks and shares; to be bought and traded using cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.

Synthetix actually started out as a stablecoin, before adapting into a DeFi protocol.

The platform was primarily created for their users to trade Synths. Which then is used to do margin tradings on the platform. They can either go long or short on it. Going long means betting that the price will increase and going short means the opposite, betting the price of that asset will decrease.

Also by staking their SNX, the holders can create new Synth tokens, they can collect their rewards, and also watch their holdings grow in their portfolio. This may actually be the reason why over 85% of the current total supply of SNX is just locked up in the protocol.

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bZx is another DeFi project that is also lending platform for traders and it is built on Ethereum. It uses a token system to function, this is then managed by smart contracts on the blockchain to make the process automated. bZx is not controlled by anyone or any group or company.

The best way to use bZx is by using the front-end applications: Fulcrum and Torque.

Fulcrum enables users to do margin trades or lend cryptocurrency assets using the bZx's smart contracts. You receive iTokens when lending and pTokens when doing margin trading. No need to register and there are also no fees involved, you can simply use a MetaMask wallet or any other Ethereum-based wallets to connect to their decentralized apps and you can start using them.

Fulcrum is limited to borrowing for doing trades, while on the other hand, Torque enables its users to borrow money for whatever they like to use it for. Torque is currently offering their borrowers a fixed interest rate so their loans are much more predictable versus other DeFi lending platforms (like Compound).

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Uniswap is what we call a DEX, or a decentralized exhange that is based on the ETH blockchain. They allow anyone to swap ERC20 tokens using their platform.

Unlike other exchanges handling crypto, Uniswap has been designed to function more like a public good: it's a tool for the community that enables them to trade their tokens without platform fees or middlemen fees. The Uniswap DEX also uses a simple equation to determine the prices of the tokens listed on their platform based on trades - equating to actual supply and demand pricing.

Listing an ERC20 token on Uniswap is easy and no permission is required, unlike other exchanges where you need to submit applications or be voted in. You simple have to create a smart contract and a liquidity pool for each kind of token that you want to be listed.

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These are just some of the projects/protocols that are considered DeFi. There's tons of other DeFi projects that are definitely challenging the way we handle finances.

Thanks for reading!

Source: Images used were made in Photoshop with the DeFi's original icons. Information listed here have been gathered from multiple/different sources, like Google and Decrypt. Thanking and tagging Professor @yohan2on, @steemitblog, @steemcurator01, & @steemcurator02.