For the last few years, cryptocurrency has been on the tip of everyone’s tongues – whether it’s because of the quick (and not to mention, significant) amount of money earned or its crash following a series of unfortunate news this year. If you’re savvy, you most probably have invested in crypto, or perhaps you’re still invested in crypto right now.
With 2022 bringing about much change in establishing a normal post-pandemic and the markets crawling back up, crypto and blockchain have been constantly innovating to ensure its sustenance in the long term for investors and companies alike. Here are some of the top driving forces created to boost the market, in chronological order.
SocialFi
The newest and arguably the coolest new evolution of blockchain technology thus far is SocialFi. With social networking being a daily affair for the average Joe these days, SocialFi seeks to combine the wonders of DeFi with the perks of social networking. Instead of just spending their time and getting nothing in return, users can be compensated for their time and engagement. A crowd favorite SocialFi project is NFTv.Social that brings IP collabs and social experiences onto Web 3.0, which then empowers content creators and consumers to build and make meaningful decisions that will shape the NFTv world. As an added bonus, with their collaboration with FashionTV, users get to enjoy a sea of perks and added benefits for IRL clubs and events hosted by the renowned fashion entertainment company. With NFTv SocialFi, participants get to experience a whole new ecosystem where they actually get rewarded for engaging on social – almost unheard of not too long ago.
DeFi
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has been around for a while – it takes the main portions of tasks done within the Traditional Finance (TradFi) sectors, such as loans, trading and margin within banks, insurers and the like, and puts it directly under the control of the owners themselves. In DeFi, you get true control and transparency over your funds, which often leads to better profits in the long run. An example of a popular DeFi project is SushiSwap (SUSHI), an Ethereum-powered token and platform that enables the exchange of cryptocurrencies through decentralized means, utilizing the automated market maker (AMM) model. It was developed to incentivize a network of users to operate a platform where they can buy and sell cryptocurrency assets, making use of a collection of liquidity pools. SUSHI’s value has historically increased and will likely continue to in the future as well, given its strong utility.
GameFi/ Play To Earn/ P2E
GameFi came along shortly after DeFi did. GameFi is every inner child’s dream – being able to play games to earn money, even possibly enough to earn a living, became a true reality with blockchain. Players get to earn cryptocurrency, game tokens or NFTs while playing games which can subsequently be used as investments to cash out. One of the top GameFi projects by market cap is The Sandbox, where players live in a decentralized world they helped to build. In-game, players can trade items, play smaller in-world games, have unique experiences, own and build land and more in this Minecraft-esque world. Creators and players get ownership of their creations as NFTs and get rewarded for their participation in this ecosystem.