Decentralized Finance, known colloquially in the cryptocurrency community as “DeFi,” has been promoted as a form of finance that will replace traditional finance, or “TradFi” as described by the same community. The purpose of this paper is to look through the various claims to understand the technology and financial processes that underpin the DeFi phenomenon and separate the hyperbole from the true innovations so the reader can see what may be enduring and worth a professional’s time to understand.