Competitive dynamics between decentralized and centralized finance lending markets

Abstract

We analyze the competitive dynamics between a decentralized financial system, called a protocol for loanable funds (PLF), and a centralized financial system. A PLF primarily differs from traditional banks in terms of its purpose and its decentralized ledger. While traditional banks pursue profit maximization, the PLF with a decentralized ledger system liquidates borrowing demand in line with the supply of deposits. We provide a theoretical framework that incorporates the differences among the lending markets to outline their competitive dynamics and suggest an optimal design for the PLF's consensus algorithm. The traditional bank incurs a cost to secure market power that depends on its degree of heterogeneity from the PLF. Our results suggest channels through which monetary policy influences the interest rates of PLFs.