Top DeFi Protocols to Watch in 2023 and More

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has become one of the hottest trends in the cryptocurrency world, which offers a new way of conducting financial transactions that is more secure, transparent and decentralized than traditional finance. This article will introduce you to the world of DeFi, and teach you about some of the best projects to look out for. We’ll also talk about what RING Financial could have become in 2023 if the project had not failed.

Introduction to Decentralized Finance

DeFi is an innovative financial system that utilizes blockchain technology to provide a decentralized, transparent, and secure alternative to traditional finance. It aims to eliminate intermediaries and provide financial services directly to users. DeFi protocols allow users to make secure financial transactions in the cryptocurrency world, without the need for banks or financial institutions and especially avoiding frauds and scams.

DeFi is built on a decentralized network of smart contracts, which are self-executing agreements that operate automatically without human intervention. These smart contracts are publicly auditable and transparent, which ensures that all users have access to the same information and can verify the validity of each transaction. For example, DeFi protocol RING Financial had its smart contract on the Binance Smart Chain.

It is important, however, to note that a smart contract can also have small flaws that a hacker can exploit in order to commit fraud. This was, for example, the case with several DeFi projects like RING Financial, although its administrators did well to suspend the project temporarily to avoid losses to those who had the RING Financial Token.

Top DeFi Platforms for 2023

Of the many DeFi platforms currently on the market, here are our top 3 picks for 2023. We think these projects have good growth potential, and you can get on board. However, it’s important to stay on the lookout, as frauds and scams are never far away in crypto.

• Lido Finance
  Lido Finance ($LDO) is a DeFi project that allows its users to passively manage returns on their capital. Lido is currently the largest DeFi protocol in terms of total value locked (TVL), with over $8 billion in assets on the platform.
  
  The Lido protocol allows users to leverage their staked coins without having to sell them, by wrapping the asset and providing a derivative product backed by the underlying asset. This means users can access funds when they need them, and earn a return while they wait. Several DeFi projects like RING Financial also offered the same service.
  
• Synthetix
  Synthetix is a decentralized platform that allows users to trade synthetic assets, which are digital assets that track the price of real-world assets. Synthetix currently offers synthetics for various assets, including cryptocurrencies, commodities, and fiat currencies. Additionally, Synthetix has a native cryptocurrency called SNX that is used for paying transaction fees on the platform and minting new synthetic assets.
  
• Stargate Finance
  Stargate Finance is a DeFi protocol that serves as a bridge for users, allowing them to transfer assets between multiple networks, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Fantom, Arbitrum, Optimism, and many more.
  
  The STG token itself is very useful within the protocol as it gives holders voting rights, revenue rights, and more. Overall, STG is potentially a great long-term investment opportunity. It is still a DeFi project with a small market cap, but it has the potential to continue to grow in the coming years.

DeFi That Could Have Made Our List: The Failure of RING Financial

DeFi has become a hotbed for fraud, as the lack of regulation and oversight has created an environment that is ripe for exploitation. It is important to exercise caution and conduct thorough research before using any DeFi protocol.

One of the most common types of DeFi scams is the so-called “rug pull,” which is when a developer or a group of developers exit the project after draining the funds from its liquidity pool. To avoid this type of scam, it is important to look for projects that have a strong and reputable development team, a clear roadmap, and a solid community.

At the same time, some DeFi projects are falsely accused of being a scam, when in fact they may have been the victim of a hack. When a DeFi protocol starts to get a lot of buzz around its project, hackers start looking for security holes in its smart contracts that they could exploit and commit frauds. Several DeFi protocols like RING Financial have been the victims of exactly this.

In the case of RING Financial, for example, a hacker noticed that there was a part in the protocol’s smart contract that did not have the protection function, which allowed anyone to modify the code and make use of it as they wanted. This is how the hacker got a large number of RING Financial Tokens. Moreover, the RING Financial developer recognized their mistake and paused the contract to prevent the attacker from draining the entire pool of its rewards. They, then, created a new Node contract with the “onlyOwner” security attribute to address the issue with reward distribution. Unfortunately, this new contract came too late, as the trust in the project and its team had already been lost due to the hack. The resulting selling pressure ultimately led to the demise of the RING Financial token and the project.

If RING Financial had not suffered the hack that led to the observed scams, this project would likely be one of the best DeFi projects of 2023, as more and more people were interested in the project due to its different objectives.