Top Startups To Watch For Blockchain’s Next Billion Users

Although blockchain technology has been developing fast since the birth of BitcoinBTC, the adoption of blockchain and crypto remains low due to the immaturity of the technology, products, and regulations in the blockchain space. As of 2023, the estimated global crypto ownership rate averages 4.2%, with over 420 million crypto users worldwide, according to the Singapore-based fintech company Triple A. However, these statistics signify a potentially huge market. In what follows, we aim to identify blockchain projects and tools that seek to onboard the next billion users. The best discussion for this topic falls into three categories: decentralized applications, protocols, and infrastructure. We present the detailed discussions in Part I and Part II articles. Part I article presents evolving decentralized finance (Defi) and evolving non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Part II article presents account abstraction, blockchain scalability, and decentralized infrastructure.

Evolving DeFi

DeFi is an umbrella term for peer-to-peer financial services using blockchain. With DeFi, users can perform most banking functions such as earning interest, borrowing, lending, buying insurance, trading derivatives and assets, and more. The process is faster and doesn’t require paperwork or intermediaries.

Related articles

DraftKings Exits NFT Business Due to Legal Issues

30 July 2024

BlockDAG’s Leadership Unveil – Crypto Market Titans Behind Game Changing Presale Challenge VeChain and Optimism’s Growth

30 July 2024

As DeFi continues to grow and enhance liquidity, capital efficiency, and other aspects, more users will shift from centralized financial systems to decentralized solutions. Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are a cornerstone of DeFi. Due to compliance issues with centralized crypto exchanges and the decentralized nature of blockchain, people are increasingly inclined towards DEX for trading. Of course, the compliance of DEX will also mature over time.

Furthermore, DeFi derivatives, which include cryptocurrencies and other assets on the blockchain, are gaining significant interest and are becoming equally important in the world of crypto finance. In traditional finance, a derivative is a contract whose value derives from the performance of an underlying entity, such as an asset, commodity, index, interest rate, or another derivative. Given the importance of derivative contracts in mature traditional financial systems, it’s no surprise that derivatives are emerging in crypto finance markets.

Projects to watch include synthetix.io, dYdXDYDX, Curve Finance, Trader Joe, and Maverick Protocol.

Evolving NFTs

NFTs are distinct cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be duplicated. These tokens can represent both digital and real-world items, such as artwork and real estate. While the NFT market has experienced a downturn in the past year, it cannot be denied that NFTs have significantly contributed to raising awareness and attracting the general public to the blockchain industry. The advancements in the following two NFT technologies will play a significant role in the future adoption of NFTs by billions of users. On the one hand, ERC-6551 is the new token standard for the EthereumETH network, elevating the capabilities of ERC-721 NFTs to a new level, and unlocking new use cases for NFTs.

Currently, NFTs are primarily static assets with limited functionality beyond ownership transfer. They lack transaction history, signature control, and linked ownership of all benefits received, such as airdropped tokens. By utilizing ERC-6551, all relevant benefits associated with an NFT, including airdropped tokens, will be recorded within the NFT itself. When selling an NFT, buyers will also see these records, and all associated tokens will be transferred to the buyer. With ERC-6551, we can seamlessly add new layers of ownership to all existing and new NFTs, opening up use cases that project creators have long desired but have yet to find simple solutions for.

On the other hand, dynamic NFTs, called dNFTs are NFTs with encoded smart contract logic that automatically change their metadata based on external conditions. They enable the creation of digital items that can evolve and change over time, offering a more engaging experience for buyers and fans in various domains such as gaming, music, art, and more. For instance, imagine a digital weapon in a game that gains new abilities or attributes as the player progresses. With dNFTs, these advancements can be seamlessly reflected in the corresponding NFT, creating an immersive and dynamic gaming experience. This innovative use of blockchain technology adds a new layer of depth and customization to gaming, enhancing player engagement and opening up exciting possibilities for interactive storytelling within virtual worlds.

Projects to watch include Rarible and Art Blocks.

We will continue the discussion in the Part II article.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.