Great content and lessons, think i’ll skip on the deposit of DAI at this time though. I’m finding better returns on other crypto assets currently.
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Curiously now the Dai APY is just 0% on Oasis. On compound it is way more.
I think Dai is robust and battle-tested, making it almost risk-free. Thus, making 5-10 % returns on such a stable technology (Dai) is very good. I doubt this is sustainable in the long run. This is just too easy for now.
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During the last three days I have used my Metamask to explore many different DeFi platforms found on Defipulse and DeFiprime and I have gotten a good overview and understanding of the variety of platforms that are available in the current DeFi space.
I do have experience with making deposits, withdrawals and trading of cryptocurrencies on many CeFi platforms, including exchanges, and I do see a big similarity between the two ecosystems. The User Interfaces (UI) and User Experience (UX) on the CeFi platforms are better and less complex but I think in time DeFi will overcome these challenges. For now I find many of the DeFi platforms more complex to use and on top of that many are giving lower interest rates on deposits which begs the question why bother with more complexity and lower interest rates on DeFi? Of course the true DeFi advantage of being in control of your own assets is a big pro for the DeFi ecosystem development. On top of it all I see so many opportunities for building on the existing Ethereum DeFi ecosystem. I can’t wait to do my programming courses and have a go at building something myself.
I also found another interesting company in DeFi. This company, “https://thegraph.com/“ is creating better interaction between different blockchains and has a brand new testnet as of Dec 17th. 2020 on the Ethereum blockchain. “The Graph is a middle layer between decentralised applications (Dapps) and various blockchains, enabling them to interact more fluidly”. Synthetix.io is currently operating on a hosted version of the Graph. This will become a great tool for developers to connect Dapps to different blockchains and Smart Contracts in the future.
Source CoinDesk.
https://www.coindesk.com/web-3-0-infrastructure-blockchain-the-graph-live-ethereum
On a different note:
The problem of centralised oracles in DeFi and Smart Contracts is an interesting problem that needs resolving. Too much hacking happening lately! Not good for DeFi.
https://docs.ethhub.io/built-on-ethereum/oracles/what-are-oracles/
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In my opinion , the DEFI SPACE IS ALL INTERESTING. With the real opportunities in the insurance market place, which is still in its infancy. I can see every transaction being insured in the future as long it’s verified in a blockchain. That would be millions of transactions per day. 
I have used Celsius in order to gain interest on some of my holdings.
I discovered a wallet (non-custodial) called Digifox (digifox.finance) which simplifies the process of swapping and saving crypto assets. Much simpler than interacting directly with a protocol or sometimes confusing UIs. Although not perfect, more projects similar to this would be helpful in driving retail adoption.
I had a small amount ($65 worth of Eth) in my Metamask and tried to mint some Dai using Maker Vault…the Eth gas cost was going to be $100 so I didn’t go through with it. I swapped some Eth for 30 Dai in my Metamask instead.
I then went back to Oasis to deposit the Dai in savings but the APY was 0% so I didnt go through with that either. I then decided to provide liquidity on Compound with my 30 Dai…the Mint transaction failed and used up the remaining Eth that I had in my Metamask…until the gas fees associated with Eth are reduced it makes no sense to do any of this with small amounts.
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Thanks AMADEO for a well presented and easy to follow course.
Much appreciated. I just wish it had more in depth on the insurance market. It is just my selfish opinion.
THANK YOU and have a great 2021.
Regards,
Nils
great deck on DeFI and helpful testnet assignment. I ALSO spent LOTS time looking at the Terms and conditions of the staking assignment - i suggest one looks it over .
No Liability of fo rht 3rd party affiliate links
No Class action
No Court only Mediator
strict timelines for raising and addressing dispute
Such activities are ONLY and clearly defined as Business activities
I have some domestic question on Tax that I addressing offline
looking at when gains are crystallized
how to properly document , to determine tax. Loking foward to DeFi 201 and the Business Master Class too
ok so for the sake of this experiment, I was gonna swap about 30$ worth of ETH into DAI, and I was quoted a network fee of 20USD 
so I halted the experiment for now…I guess gas fees are very high right now? Also maybe I’m just doing something wrong. Has anybody else had this issue?
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These deep dives have been extremely helpful. I have watched a lot of youtube videos on defi, but this is the first time i’ve really seen the internals of how this works, and how to interact directly with the smart contracts.
I had a bad experience with Metamask when I first started out. I got phished by someone and ended up losing a transaction, for almost $3,000. I am now extremely careful, and double check all links. The positive side of this story is that I abandoned my Metamask account and opened a coinbase wallet. A month later, I got airdropped Uni to both accounts, so I ended up getting about $2,000 back in coins in my old Metamask, which I immediately sold.
I guess I picked the wrong time to attempt this assignment. As others have said gas prices are astronomical right now. I am being quoted a price of $379.89 just to setup the vault. I know from using Synthetix that the price seems to drop overnight and if I get up relatively early I can usually get a somewhat reasonable gas price. Does anyone know of a way to get alerted when gas prices return to a more reasonable level?
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Hey @matottjm, hope you are well.
I usually use https://ethgasstation.info/ to check the gas price, also https://etherscan.io/.
Both of them have a programmable API that you can use for other purposes.
If you have any more questions, please let us know so we can help you! 
Carlos Z.
Is lending DAI another way that’s basically making passive income?
Thanks for the lessons, Amadeo! Eth gas fees are extremely expensive right now (quoted $69-$133) to set up with Maker. Also, the APY was stated as 0% when I tried to use my Dai on the Oasis app. I set up a Celsius account and am currently waiting on verification to use it.
Hello Amadeo. Thanks for the explanations on the DIFI projects. They were very instructive.
Interesting stuff, though a bit heavy for a beginner.
I will definitely look into it more thoroughly.
Depositing on celsius.network allows me the same things as loan/lend/earn interest by locking (more like depositing) coins/tokens… its a much simpler alternative to use… but I totally understand the use of this if you want to build on top of the network.
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i just managed to play Pool Together Gas fees are v expensive though
Yes…very expensive. I just did pool together and deposited Dai in there … i guess i will just leave it there now and see if i win
I really like that I can use ETH that I have to get access financial opportunities while maintaining ownership of the ETH. This adds another layer of use on top of the Ethereum blockchain and DAPPs. The one major problem I have with this is the high transaction fees. This is tied to the rising price of ETH right now but makes small transactions cost prohibitive.
I know that EOS doesn’t have transaction fees but I have found EOS much more difficult to work with compared to Ethereum. There are also many less options for DeFi.
I have seen that Theta has just started smart contracts recently and they claim to have a similar structure to Ethereum. Maybe there is an opportunity to port over applications and take advantage of the transactions run using TFuel that can be generated by owning and staking Theta or running an Edge Node.
I have played with the yield farming, staking, liquidity pools.
And the fees at times eat up a lot on small test amounts when gas fees are high especially. You use two coins -> generate a new token -> lock -> approve and each step there are fees. So perhaps at over $10k it would be low fee.
Simplicity for users is ideal.
- Stake assets at a given rate.
- Borrow assets at a given rate.
Converting to various other coins/tokens to do this should not be needed. Also the fees in various conversions and gas fees make it only reasonable in larger amounts.
Very rough thoughts… thinking about ‘how to help others’ versus profit… Just throwing it out there perhaps someone can build on the idea.
My thoughts of a project would be micro-loans, similar to kiva.org does for fiat money. You can see and choose ‘causes’ you want to support. There could also be the normal loans where the borrower chooses.
I know that this could be done now with these platforms but not easily by someone. And with Kiva.org there is a person as a intermediary for trust/connection/updates. Preventing abuse is the bigger concern… I would want the funds/donations to go to real people that need the help. Also perhaps they get micro-loans from the interest on your staking versus the actual asset.