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Intro to DeFi
Why the $GME mania is a giant endorsement of decentralized finance and the underlying blockchain technology to replace the current settlement systems.
The wild rally of Gamestop stock and other meme stocks stole the headlines in January, formulating various narratives on the social class divide (the masses — r/WallStreetBets vs. the establishment —hedge funds, Wall Street). The frenzy exploded when Robinhood and other brokerages placed temporary limitations on trading activity, spurring up conspiracy theories regarding Robinhood’s relationship with Citadel (who also bailed out Melvin Capital due to the GME short squeeze). Conspiracy theories aside (which is already drawing regulatory scrutiny from Washington), this situation highlighted the complicated plumbing underneath the stock settlement process. For those interested, @compound248 on Twitter gave a detailed primer on the entire process:
