Given the choice between a $1000 cash payment today, and never having to hear about crypto again, many people might choose the latter.
However, the token won’t rise in value unless a third party steps in to create a market by offering to buy and sell from its 1 million holders at floating prices. A traditional, regulated stock or commodity exchange doesn’t make a market in securities or assets. It simply guarantees trade settlement if either counterparty defaults.
Over the pandemic era these market makers made fortunes by charging fees on trades and profiting on the spread between the market rate and the rate offered to retail traders. In turn, Alameda’s trading losses meant its assets couldn’t cover its liabilities once FTT’s value plunged.
That's what defi is for. It helps people operate with less regulations, more efficiently.