"Bitcoin democratized money"
BTC isn't money, so that article's statement is incorrect on its face. Don't you wish financial experts could get money and currency straightened out in their heads?
Gold and silver remain by far the best money. If you don't hold it, you don't own it. If it's gone when the power goes off, you similarly don't really own it.
If we're talking about currencies, though, "DeFi" appears somebody just slapped a gimmicky name on something that already existed - crypto. Even the definition given is just circular wording: "a universe of decentralized application which enables the use of financial goods or service across the crypto asset exchange", which translates directly to "decentralized crypto finances".
No need for a new term, unless DeFi were something new.
Something new would be the ability to use cryptocurrencies privately and decentralized. By private I mean without involving private-destroying devices, without inputting name, address, or phone number, and without showing an identification card or papers. By decentralized I mean not involving large corporations, banks, or governments.
Once that's possible (and I know it currently isn't because I just finished a series called Crypto Lunch where the community and I were unable to use crypto privately or decentralized. The golden standard is purchasing groceries at a local shop with crypto (privately and decentralized). So far nobody has figured out a way to do it. If you can, you'd be the first, and you'd become well-known.
Sounds like you haven't investigated the platforms you're linking to here? If you do, and you find a way to privately use crypto to locally buy groceries - even with 100 steps and fees - please let the world know asap. Millions are on the sidelines, waiting for crypto to get its act together.
Many (like myself) won't use money or currency that destroys the user's privacy, like credit cards. Crypto, so far, has yet to offer anything better. Fiat cash remains the best currency for privacy and decentralization. Gold and silver remain the best money (savings of intrinsic value).
I've advocated crypto since 2011 - years before most people first heard of it - so don't brush me off as a crypto hater. I've done everything I could to make it work for the people, but as yet it does not.