Interview with Babbitt: Asset Management Wallet DeBank goes live, calculates your DeFi mess

Yesterday (March 11), a DeFi wallet called DeBank went online. DeBank is not so much a wallet as it is an asset management platform that helps users track and manage DeFi assets. According to Babbitt, the project team comes from Shanghai-based Internet companies such as Hungry, People.com, etc.

At present, the DeBank wallet has two main functions: one is asset management. Users can enter the Ethereum address to view the asset status of the address and the real-time status of various DeFi assets under the address. DeFi applications currently supported include Maker, Compound, dYdX, Uniswap, DDEX, Aave, etc.

The second is a data tool, which collects statistics from four major markets, including mortgage lending, stablecoins, leveraged transactions and spot transactions, and displays the statistics of each lending platform from three dimensions: assets, income and liabilities.

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It is commendable that the interface of DeBank is relatively friendly, which lowers the threshold for DeFi use to a certain extent. But on the other hand, the author had doubts about DeBank's security, privacy, profit model and other issues, so he first contacted DeBank's founder Hong Bo to interview him.

Babbitt: DeBank seems more like an asset management platform than a wallet. The user enters the Ethereum address to check the status of their assets on various DeFi platforms, but DeBank itself does not keep these assets, and users need to complete the operations on the DeFi platform for redemption and other operations. Is this true?

Hong Bo: Yes, currently the first version of DeBank only provides asset tracking, and does not keep these assets. Users will still have to go to the DeFi platform for operations when they redeem. Our deposit and loan functions are still under development, and we will provide users with a more complete one-stop asset management function in the future.

Babbitt: How does DeBank guarantee the security of user assets? How is it different from the mainstream centralized and decentralized wallets? Are there competing products?

Hong Bo: At present, there are enough professional teams to solve the problem of user private key management. Whether it is a centralized or decentralized wallet, hardware wallets are becoming more and more popular. So our DeFi wallet will focus on user asset management, not private key management. We will actively cooperate with mainstream centralized and decentralized wallets to provide their users with better DeFi asset management functions. As for the competing products, as far as we know, there are a dozen companies doing similar things in foreign countries, and InstaDapp and Zerion in China.

Babbitt: Regarding privacy, DeBank requires users to enter their own Ethereum address, check the address's positions, mortgages, and long / short positions on various DeFi platforms. The address is not difficult to obtain. Everyone can easily see the details of other people's assets through this platform. Is it too private? Will DeBank back office collect Ethereum addresses?

Hong Bo: Privacy is a good question. What I personally understand is not the opinion of the team. There is no privacy at all on the blockchain. The biggest value of the blockchain is that the addresses on it are not privacy. All actions that occur on the address are completely open and transparent to the outside world. Open and transparent actions become the basis for establishing trust between the blockchain contract and the contract, and between the address and the contract. Because of this, blockchain can become the cornerstone of larger cooperation. For users, on the other hand, it is anonymous. In other words, as long as anonymity measures are taken, even if others can see all the behavior of the address on the chain, they cannot know who the user is behind.

Babbitt: Many DeFi products lack a profit model. What is DeBank's profit model?

Hong Bo: I think it is very early in the industry. If Ma Huateng wanted to understand Tencent's profit model then, he would not consider selling his company. Therefore, we believe that this stage comes to enlarge the industry together, rather than thinking about how to divide the cake now.

Babbitt: There are still many unlisted sections on DeBank's official website. Can you tell us?

Hong Bo: Coming soon will be several core DeFi scenarios we have identified, including deposits, loans, and exchanges. These three new functions are mainly provided to users in the form of aggregation protocols to help users find financial services that best meet their risk appetite.

Babbitt: DeFi has been developing well recently, but it is still a niche circle in essence. What do you think is the problem? How to solve?

Hong Bo: DeFi is indeed a niche now, but I don't think this is a problem. Compared to the traditional Internet, the talent density of the DeFi ecosystem is far from enough. Although a variety of new protocols and products are emerging, at this stage it is far from mature enough to carry larger-scale users and funds. It seems very lively, but aside from those who are selling DeFi tokens, how many are actually doing DeFi projects in China? It can be counted with one hand. So I don't think there is any problem, and there is no need to solve it. As more and more talents can understand and be willing to invest, the circle will gradually grow.

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