Introduction
Over the last couple of years, crypto adoption has grown to unprecedented levels.
We are witnessing the mass adoption of web3 crypto technologies, not only by individuals,but also big corporations that were traditionally web2 oriented.
With a list of new upcoming crypto projects coming up every other day, how do you know which web3 crypto coins to invest in?
How do you know which web3 crypto projects are likely to still be relevant in 5 years?
With all the challenges facing the traditional banking systems, decentralized finance (De-Fi) seeks to solve these issues by building open, decentralized, and custodial web3 financial systems.
In this article, we are going to list several upcoming web3 crypto projects that we’re currently excited about, and why you should be a part of them too.
But first, we have to take a step back and understand what cryptocurrencies are.
What Are Cryptocurrencies?
A cryptocurrency or a digital currency is virtual money that is transacted on a public ledger known as the blockchain. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies, for example, Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Dogecoin.
Cryptocurrencies are stored on a custodial (private keys are held by a third party) or a non-custodial (type of crypto wallet where you own and control the private keys) wallet, and are traded, exchanged, or yielded on exchange platforms such as Coinbase, Pancakeswap or Binance.
Types of Crypto
While most coins are always referred to as cryptocurrencies, there are different types of web3 crypto coins based on their use and how they are developed.
Coins
Coins such as Bitcoin, Ether (Ethereum), and Ripple are built on their native network, and their main use is to offer alternatives to fiat currency (paper currency). The main utility is financial transactions.
Tokens
Tokens are crypto coins that are built on top of already existing blockchain networks. A good example of this is the Shiba Inu ERC-20 token, built on the Ethereum blockchain network.
The drawback with tokens is that they inherit the shortcoming of the blockchain network they're built on. This means all tokens that are on the Ethereum network will always have scalability issues and high gas fees, depending on the volume of the transaction.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
After Bitcoin and other major coins took off, it was evident that a new financial system was inevitable, which is why some central banks started working on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The CBDC acts as a virtual alternative to central bank-issued fiat currency.
Some of the countries that are at the forefront of experimenting with CBDC are the United States, India, Nigeria, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and China.
Stablecoins
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies where the prices are informed by physical money, natural commodities like gold and silver, or other cryptocurrencies.
Some of the most popular stablecoins are:
Tether: One of the most widely used stablecoins, Tether is currently used in half of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide. Tether asserts that it is fully backed by fiat currency and financial equivalents.
USDC (United States Dollar Coin): USDC coin claims to be backed by a combination of fiat currency, Treasury bonds, commercial paper, corporate and government bonds, and certificates of deposit with international financial institutions. It’s an open-source project maintained by a collaboration named Centre. The option to redeem one 1 USDC coin for one US dollar is a big aspect of stablecoins attractiveness.
Binance stablecoin(BUSD): is a stablecoin issued by the Binance trading and exchange platform with the approval of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The value of the BUSD against the US dollar is 1:1.
Upcoming crypto projects worth following
1. Acala
The Acala network is a decentralized finance network and liquidity protocol for the Polkadot network.
It's a scalable, Ethereum-based, and DeFi-optimized Layer-1 smart contract platform with built-in liquidity and ready-to-use financial decentralized apps (DApps).
The reason why this upcoming crypto project made into our web3 crypto list is because this project gives developers and users access to the best Ethereum network and the full power of Substrate with its trustless exchange platform, stablecoin (aUSD), DOT Liquid Staking (LDOT), and EVM+.
2. Polkadot
The Polkadot network is an open-source decentralized blockchain system that provides users with the ability to send and receive data and assets across incompatible blockchain networks, like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The Polkadot network is built for speed, scalability, and energy-efficient transactions.
The platform uses the $Dot token governance, staking, and bonding.
The token can be traded on a list of major web3 crypto trading platforms.
3. Anoma
The Anoma protocol is a platform that facilitates the transfer or trading of digital assets privately and anonymously. The protocol does not require a base currency; meaning, one user can pay in Bitcoin and the other user receives the transaction in Dogecoin.
There are several ways in which a user can participate in the Anoma network:
Validators - A validator verifies, votes, and maintains records of transactions; hence enhancing the security of the blockchain.
Stakers - A staker is a user with voting powers and can vote on the progress of the platform.
Matchmakers - Matchmakers node is a computer on the Anoma network that listens and connects parties that require a matching transaction.
Developer - For the Anoma network, creates additional validity predicates, zero-knowledge circuits for private bartering, protocol enhancements, and more.
Users - users of the Anoma protocol can initiate a private transaction or a trade of any digital asset.
Intent Gossip Operator - Intent gossip nodes are in charge of distributing intents and facilitating the necessary peer method for bartering.
4. Nymtech
Nymtech is a security-focused blockchain infrastructure platform that secures metadata for packets in the application and networking layers.
The project was started in 2018 and has three core features:
Nym Mixnet - This is a multipurpose tool that encrypts your network from analysis by malicious actors.
Nym Token (NYM) - This is the native token of the Nymtech project.
Nym Credentials - This is an authentication tool that allows users to log in to third-party apps and choose what part of their data to share or not.
5. Pstake
Pstake is a 3-1 DeFi platform that offers liquid staking as its core feature. Users can use the pSTAKE application to create 1:1 pegged ERC-20 wrapped unstaked tokens by depositing their tokens. Currently, only Atom ($ATOM) and persistent One ($XPRT) tokens are supported, but Solana ($SOL) and Ethereum ($ETH) support are currently under development.
The platform also has a native token known as $PSTAKE for participating in future protocol development proposals through voting and also protocol security.
6. Neon labs
Neon labs is a decentralized app (DApp) infrastructure platform. The platform combines the power of both Solana and Ethereum networks to help developers build scalable and low gas fee applications.
This means that you can build an application using popular Ethereum network tools, such as Metamask, and scale your application using Solana and $SOL token.
The platform's utility token $NEON can be used for governance, staking, and voting for future platform development.
7. Agoric
Building web3 crypto projects doesn't always require one to master a new language from scratch. Agoric is a smart contract platform that provides JavaScript developers with a secure, fast, and familiar ecosystem to build dApps.
The platform transactions are supported by two native tokens $RUN (a stable token pegged to the US dollar) and $BLD (a staking token informed by market activity in the ecosystem). The tokens can be used for governance, payments, incentives, staking, and validation.
8. Moonbeam
The Moonbeam platform is a ready-to-use smart contract protocol compatible with the Ethereum network and Polkadot architecture.
To use the platform, you will need Moonbeam's utility token Glimmer ($GLMR) for executing smart contracts, paying transaction fees, staking, or participating in the governance of the platform through voting.
9. Woo
The Woo platform is an all-rounded DeFi platform with three main components:
WOOX - This is a low-cost exchange and trading platform that gets its liquidity from the Woo network to offer traders outstanding execution in trading.
WOOTRADE - This is a B2B trading API for other platforms to integrate into their exchanges and institutions for a deeper and more advanced trading experience.
WOOFi - WOOFi is a decentralized exchange platform that offers one on one crypto swap functionality and minimizes slippage while charging cheaper costs.
10. Zksync
With the current scalability issues that are facing the Ethereum network, Zksync is a user-centric Ethereum based ZK rollup.
Zk rollups are smart contracts that scale the Ethereum network by processing some transactions outside the main Ethereum blockchain network, lowering the gas fees and reducing transaction costs.
11. Iron Fish
Iron Fish is a Layer 1 blockchain that ensures the highest level of anonymity and security for every transaction. Iron Fish allows you complete control over who sees transaction details via account view keys or transaction decryption keys, using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) and the highest industry standards for encryption of data, information, and tokens.
12. Filecoin
Filecoin is a decentralized storage network platform that gives users the ability to store and receive data on the blockchain.
Filecoin has a 'provide storage' feature that lets users offer storage on their hard drive storage and earn filecoins.
13. Celo
The Celo ecosystem is Layer1 proof-of-stake protocol with full EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) compatibility, cross-chain, interoperability, and low gas fees.
14. Stellar
Stellar is a powerful DeFi platform that lets you trade digital assets for fiat currency and vice versa for low cost across borders.
As much as Stellar is an exchange platform for cryptocurrencies, they do have a native token known as ‘lumen’ for their ecosystem. Every account is required to hold a minimum amount of 1 lumen to keep frauds off the network.
15. Ripple
Ripple is a peer-to-peer digital currency payment infrastructure with its own native cryptocurrency known as $XRP.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored what web3 crypto coins are and some of the most exciting upcoming crypto projects in the space.
This article is purely for educational purposes and we recommend you to do more research on any project before financially investing in it.
To learn more about the history of web3 or web3 in general, and NFTs, check out Hashnode's web3 blog.