DeFi (Decentralised Finance)
Also known as: decentralised finance, decentralized finance
Financial services built on public blockchains without intermediaries — lending, trading and yield — with complex, often self-reported tax.
Definition
DeFi refers to financial applications running on smart contracts rather than through banks or brokers, covering decentralised exchanges, lending, liquidity provision and more. Because there is no central provider issuing statements, DeFi activity is largely self-reported for tax: you must reconstruct every swap, reward and pool movement from on-chain data, with many actions counting as disposals or income.
Example
Across a year of DeFi use — swaps, lending interest, LP fees — you rebuild each event from on-chain data to report disposals and income to SARS.
Jurisdiction notes
- South Africa: DeFi activity is largely self-reported; SARS still expects each disposal and income event reconstructed from on-chain records.