1/ There’s this concept that’s been rattling around in my head for a few months now and I’ve come to know it as “FastFi” or “fast finance”.

So, what is it?

(thread)

2/ FastFi is like DeFi on Ethereum in that it has similar properties (quick transfers of assets, “on-chain” liquidity, stablecoins etc) but it sacrifices the 3 core pillars of a blockchain - censorship resistance, decentralization and permissionlessness - to achieve scale.

3/ I don’t think the battle is actually between “centralized” vs “decentralized” - it’s between centralized platforms masquerading as decentralized (the FastFi platforms) and actual decentralized platforms.

The masqueraders are not competing in the same space as Ethereum.

4/ I actually really like the analogy coined by Andreas Antonopoulos when he was describing Bitcoin and Ethereum - he posited that Bitcoin is a lion and Ethereum is a shark - meaning that they are both apex predators but of different environments.

5/ I think this also rings true for platforms that are embracing FastFi - though they aren’t apex predators - they are the things that the apex predators eat.

Maybe some can out-run the predators and hide but that's just running away from a fight!

6/ Preserving decentralization is a constant battle because the allure of centralization is ever-present and, if embraced, it can make the lives of protocol engineers & users “easier”.

Why spend years building a maximally decentralized system when you can take a few shortcuts?

7/ Well, building a sorta-not-really-decentralized system misses the entire point of building a blockchain and it doesn’t make anything “easier” - it just shifts the issues to a different domain.

8/ I don’t know what the future looks like but I do know that myself and many others in the Ethereum community are not here for FastFi - if we were, then we would’ve either taken shortcuts to scale Ethereum (sacrificing the core pillars) or just left the community.

9/ In saying that, I believe Ethereum will also eat the FastFi space at layer 2 while retaining the things that make blockchains desirable.

Though, the real challenge is always going to be getting people care to about the core pillars of decentralization before it's too late.

10/ These thoughts were originally published in @thedailygwei newsletter.

I recommend checking out the full piece as it expands on this thread in more detail

https://thedailygwei.substack.com/p/defi-vs-fastfi-the-daily-gwei-104