A startup called dYdX has raised $10 million in funding from investors to develop financial software that allows people to borrow money from one another without using a broker. The five-person company developed a margin trading protocol based on the computing network Ethereum. It aims to allow people to create new cryptocurrency-related financial products, like interest-generating loans, short sells, or leveraged long positions. Unlike the world of traditional finance, the technology requires no broker to act as a trusted intermediary. “Decentralized finance will be first real application of blockchain technology,” said Antonio Juliano, dYdX’s founder, on a call with Fortune.