CeFi is vulnerable to systemic risks
The history of CeFi platforms is fraught with catastrophic failures, from Mt. Gox to more recent examples like FTX and BlockFi. CeFi platforms have demonstrated serious vulnerabilities, suffering from issues ranging from hacking to bankruptcy and causing significant losses to both retail and institutional investors. It seems that, unlike the traditional banking system, the crypto industry doesn’t have “too big to fail” services. The surprising collapses of Mt. Gox and FTX have revealed the weaknesses of the CeFi structure.
The same risks persist even today, as the CeFi industry hasn’t been able to upgrade its underlying infrastructure despite new security measures.
2022 was a challenging year for the crypto industry, and it proved once again that CeFi couldn’t provide transparent and secure investment management capabilities, with the platforms often co-mingling customer funds, engaging in extreme rehypothecation and lacking solid risk management practices. Moreover, centralized exchanges and platforms have too much control over user funds.
Although CeFi has been the go-to ecosystem for crypto asset management for years due to its liquidity and convenience, the risks are too significant to ignore.
Why DeFi is better for asset management
The emerging DeFi sector offers some great alternatives that give institutional investors more control over their funds while taking security into their own hands.
DeFi platforms offer higher transparency and security, building on the promise of decentralization. All transactions on DeFi protocols are recorded on-chain, providing real-time visibility into assets and enabling asset managers to monitor their positions at any time.