Open Source Finance

Definition ∞ Open source finance refers to financial services and applications built upon publicly accessible and auditable codebases, often utilizing blockchain technology. This approach promotes transparency, collaboration, and innovation within the financial sector. It allows anyone to inspect, modify, and distribute the underlying software.
Context ∞ News frequently covers the growth of open source finance, particularly within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, where protocols operate with publicly available smart contract code. The primary discussion revolves around the security implications of open source code and the rapid pace of innovation it enables. Regulatory bodies are increasingly examining open source finance to understand its risks and benefits for financial stability.