RSM US LLP – This is the second piece in our series on decentralized finance, known as DeFi. In our initial piece we introduced the concept of DeFi, examined its core elements (the smart contract, the token and the exchange), and took a look at DeFi’s growing impact. In this installment we’ll take a deeper dive into the first core element, the smart contract, which is the backbone of DeFi. The ability to run a smart contract is one of the features that separates a cryptocurrency system like Ethereum from that of Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s intended purpose is to be a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. While Bitcoin is famously volatile and occasionally subject to network congestion, it has proven to be largely successful, and many consider it to be revolutionary. It is good, and getting better, at what it set out to do.