Binance Research: Crypto Industry Overview – Part 2

This is the second part of the article. Here is the first part if you want to read it before this one.

Now, let’s continue with what the Binance research found related to DeFi, NFTs, among others.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

We have four key areas of innovation to look into in DeFi.

  • Issuance.
  • Liquidity.
  • Trading.
  • Risk management.
Issuance

In the DeFi space, there is an increase in financial products, including Synthetic assets, structured products, and yield.

Synthetic assets include Synthetix, Metronome, and Youves. Structured products include AlgoRai Finance, Lyra Finance, and Hegic. For yield-related projects, we have Pendle and Convex finance.

Liquidity

The unavailability of liquidity will make it difficult for you to navigate the space. In that light, some projects provide liquidity through Lending, ETH liquidity staking providers, and Collateralized Debt Position (CDP). 

For Lending, we have Aave, JustLend, Compound, and MarginFi. For ETH liquidity staking providers, we have Lido, Rocketpool, and Stakewise; for CDP, we have MakerDAO, Lybra Finance, and Ethena. 

Trading

We made a list of DEXs, prediction markets, and derivatives for trading. For DEXs, we have Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and SushiSwap. The tools for Predicting the market are Azuro and Winr. For derivatives, we have GMX, Drift, Kiloex, and Jupiter.

That’s not all for trading. Now, we have risk management for the last essential era of innovation in DeFi.

Risk Management

To manage your assets, you need Insurance tools and Security analytics.

Insurance protocols offer you coverage to protect your assets against risks. The major Insurance protocols are Nexus Mutual and Insur Ace.

For the security analytics aspect, we have Certik, Chainalysis, Zokyo, and Gauntlet.

Let’s move over to the next aspect of the crypto ecosystem.

Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

NFTs are digital assets that represent ownership of items or content. NFTs could represent ownership of art, videos, music, real estate land, and virtual real estate.

So, NFTs can not be replicated. If the Monalisa or one of Da Vinci’s paintings was an NFT, you can’t replicate it. Each NFT has its uniqueness and distinct value. Fun fact? NFTs can be sold and bought in the NFT marketplace. So, there are three critical areas of innovation of NFT:

  • Marketplace.
  • Financialization.
  • Services.
Marketplace

Like a regular marketplace, but in a digital world. A crypto marketplace allows buying and selling NFTs from various projects. This includes platforms like Opensea, Immutable X, Tensor, and Blur. The open marketplace allows for the sale of any NFT brand.

That’s not all. There’s also the Curated Marketplace. There are different types of NFTs based on their value, aesthetics, and many other features. The Curated Marketplace focuses on specific NFTs, which include Foundation and tofuNFT.

We have one more that allows selling NFTs in one platform: an Aggregator. The Aggregators are Blur, OpenSea Pro, and Element.

Financing (Lending/ Earn Yield/Renting)

For lending in the NFT space, we have Bend DAO, Blend, NFTfi, and Gondi. You can also earn a yield on your NFTs using Wasabi. Double protocol and reNFT also allow you to rent NFTs.

Services

There are tools for analyzing NFTs; they include Upshoot, NFT valuations, and NFTGO.

As a content creator, you can turn your art into NFTs using Audius. There’s more to it.

When a project wants to launch its NFTs, it uses launch pads like Mint Base or Dropspace.

There is something we should never miss in the digital space; that’s safety. To safeguard NFT protocols, you can use Doppel, Optic, or Yakoa.

Gaming & Metaverse

Gaming in the Crypto industry is much more advanced than what we know in the Web2 space. Here, we have the metaverse and Play-to-earn.

In the metaverse, we have Decentraland and the Sandbox. For Play-to-earn games, we have Axie Infinity, GALA games, Parallel, and Gods Unchained. Play-to-earn games allow you to monetize your gaming experience. So, you are not just spending time on the screen but also getting incentives.

People make games and develop or improve them. For the aspect of Game development, we have Studios. In the studio, you can create games. The famous game studios are Dapper, Vulcan Forged, ETHLAS, and Immutable Game Studio.

There are also toolkits for creating crypto-based games: Forte, Enjin, Ultra, and Breeder DAO.

When you create games, you need platforms for launch. Here are some platforms to do that: Combo Network, Seedify, Web3 Games, and Enjinstarter.

Now, imagine connecting your gamepad to play games, only to find each level difficult even after clicking on the beginner level. This experience leads us to game creators’ tools to improve player experience. The first one on our list is the Game NFT marketplace like  AirNFT, dMarket, Atomichub, Immutable Marketplace, and TokenTrove.

Finally, the gaming industry has communities and gaming guilds for gamers. The top gaming guilds and communities are YGG, Merit Circle, Avocado DAO, and Good Game Guild.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN)

DePIN uses the decentralized power of blockchain to connect physical devices and create real-world applications. DePIN enables a lot of services, such as car sharing and mapping. There are four critical areas in DePIN:

  • Computing networks.
  • Decentralized Wireless Networks.
  • Storage Networks.
  • Sensor Networks.
Computing Networks

We have both general purpose and Machine learning. For general purposes, we have Akash, Render Network, and Flux. These protocols are suitable for handling data. We have protocols like the Gensyn network, Bittensor, and ChainML for machine learning.

Decentralized Wireless Networks

In this category, we have protocols that support wireless connections. We have WiFi map, Metablox, WiCrypt, and Wayru network based on WiFi. The 5G protocols for mobile networks are Helium network, Pollen, and Karrier one.

Storage Network

The distinct examples of file storage protocols are Filecoin, Sia, Ethereum Swam, and Zus.

Sensor Network

Do you know that some crypto projects receive information from the environment and share this environment with other protocols? Projects that operate that way are WeatherXM, Planet Watch, Tempest, and Aquasave.

Some projects improve our daily lives using technology; they include SmartPoint and Spexgion. That’s not all. Some decentralized networks serve as maps. Hivemapper, Natix, and MapMetrics can reflect your location.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has been topping chats lately. The three critical AI innovations are application, Middleware, and infrastructure.

Based on Applications, we have projects that use AI for trading, gaming, image generation, and much more. Numerai, Mozaic, and Arkham are examples of such projects. About Middleware, we have Fetch.ai, Ocean, and Worldcoin. Based on infrastructure, we have both general-purpose computing and model training.

For model training, projects in this category are used for data and algorithms. We have Bittensor, Nimble, and Gensyn.

 

Restaking

Restaking is the practice of returning the rewards made from staking back into the staking pool. In restaking, you do not take profit from your previous stake, but instead, you put it back into the staking pool to get more rewards. Restaking focuses more on compounding.

If you want to restake your returns on Ethereum, you can use Eigen Layer. For Binance, use Babylon, and for Solana, use Picasso.

Liquidity Restaking

You can maintain your liquidity while restaking. Projects into liquidity restaking are ether.fi, Puffer, Renzo, and Kelp DAO.

The crypto space is fast evolving, and there are many ways to get involved in the crypto space, whether via DeFi, NFTs, gaming, DePIN, AI, or Restaking. There is room for everyone.

Disclaimer
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment, and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to the accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers and their risk tolerance may be different than yours. We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments so please do your due diligence. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.

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