2019 Year in Review: What Dappened Around the Decentralized World
2019 is quickly coming to a close. Here, we look back at the year that was, with a list of top dapps, the best builders, and the special whatevers from around the decentralized world.
Let us walk you through the Dapp.com 2019 retrospective — from DeFi, BApp, and beyond — the dapps that defined the year.
The Dapps That DeFi’ed the Year
DeFi movement was started in late 2018 and DeFi dapps are thriving in 2019. Some quick stats summarize the overall DeFi ecosystem so far:
- More than $525 million flowed through DeFi in Q3, according to our Quarterly Market Report
- DeFi dapps have contributed over 58% of the volume of Ethereum dapps in Q3
- $650 million has locked in DeFi
We have seen the MakerDao’s stablecoin Dai is getting more popular and becoming a global currency; Dharma provides the best interest rate; Compound allows people to earn interest on, or borrow Ethereum-based assets; ETHLend enables lenders and borrowers to create peer-to-peer lending agreements; Besides AirSwap, IDEX, Poloni, LocalCryptos, and other well-known decentralized exchanges, more and more new DEXs have emerged this year, such as Uniswap and dYdX.
Our future wealth manager will be on the blockchain and the DeFi ecosystem momentum excites us most!
The Dapps That Master Our Daily Life
Dapp builders are keeping build amazing dapps. Every week, dozens of new dapps joining the Dapp.com community and bringing users privacy, security, and digital freedom. We don’t want our data to become the new oil. We don’t want to “live in a better life” by giving up our data dignity. As for dapps like Blockstack dapps, Klaytn BApps, and others, you can use them on a daily basis — from the moment you wake up until you go to bed at night, and most importantly, those dapps give you the power to control your data.
You can use NoteRiot to capture your every inspiration; you can choose Unstoppable Domains to replace centralized domain with human-readable one; Dmails respects your privacy; Travala is a crypto-friendly platform with great hotel deals; try Arcane Maps, if you don’t want Google to know where you have been; conduct a pool? BlockSurvey can help; organizing a community? Mumble can offer something better than Discord and Slack; you can be a hippie traveler and get around with Hawk, the e-scooter...
Now, dapps can help you to establish a new daily (and possibly life-changing) habits, discover new friends and communities, and of course, take back your privacy.
The Dapps with Mainstream Attention
This year, more games are being built around some of the most recognized IPs in the industry, such as F1 Delta — the car racing game had its first NFT “1-1-1” auction in May and it sold for 419.5 ETH (worth roughly $100k at the time of sale), NBA Top Shot by Dapper Labs, Star Trek by CryptoSpaceCommanders, Power Rangers is getting rebooted on blockchain by Animoca Brands. So, we will be expecting to see more die-hard F1 fans or NBA lovers joining the blockchain game from just watching live race game or dunking basketball.
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder Reddit also joined the “blockchain gaming club” earlier this year by investing in a TCG game, SkyWeaver. If you are a fan of Alexis, you will have a very high chance of facing him off in the game!
The Dapps That Revolutionize Social Media
The biggest selling point for such social dapps is letting users take control of their own data and get paid for their contributions. This year, many platforms like @Steemit and others have also been working on enhancing their user experience so that it will become as seamless as any other mainstream applications.
As of December 19, 2019, in a total of 185 blockchain-based social media products are listed on Dapp.com. We have rounded up the most popular social dapps in 2019 powered by various blockchain platforms, so you can easily find one that suits your taste and jump right into the action.
While the decentralized social network is facing the challenge of scaling up, it is for sure a breath of fresh air in the crypto space and a good attempt to introduce the power of blockchain technology to the mass. We couldn't help but wonder — will social media dapp become the next big thing in the next decade?
If you are still in the “let’s wait and see” camp for social dapp, maybe 2020 is the time to give it a go. As Block.one disclosed that they are aiming to launch their EOS-based social network Voice this coming February, we are expecting an influx of new users to the space of crypto-based social platforms like Steemit, Minds, Cent, Antube, and more.
More Dapps Are Empowering the Creative Market
We are always looking for something new to feed our creative soul.
Earlier this year, we collaborated with @CreativeCrypto — the first magazine that powered by Steem blockchain, and we hosted AMA together and invited people from Portion — a decentralized exchange for art and collectibles, to share insights from the crypto art world.
Besides the digital art marketplaces like SuperRare and KnowOrigin that we are already familiar with, more art and creative dapps came out this year, such as MakersPlace, Breaker, Audius, BitPatron, and more. They are leveraging the technology, making the creative work more accessible, helping creators to get the fair share, and protecting the copyright.
As we are writing this right now, SuperRare just hit the sales record with a bid of 72.1 ETH ($10,027.5). Meanwhile, the crypto market stays bear-ish, the crypto art market is going strong!
The Dapps That Bring Back the Major Nostalgia
Remember Astro Boy, Super Mario, Bomb Sweep, and other blockbuster games? Now games like My Crypto Heroes, @BlockArcade, JustSnake, and more are bringing back the nostalgic feeling to us in a crypto way.
When detailing classic gaming dapps, it makes sense to include one of the best-selling Ethereum games of all time – My Crypto Heroes. Added recently the famous character Astro Boy into its character list, MCH always amazes us with its artistic mind. Although this game might be a bit hard for beginners to jump straight into, the novelty and excitement that can be garnered from the in-game characters make this unique dapp a worthy purchase.
Nintendo fans who are looking to relive their long-lost childhood memories should look no further than The Ledger of Szabo. Inspired by the classic The Legend of Zelda, the “Szabo” is an 8-bit puzzle game that utilizes Ethereum and Bitcoin Lightning to provide a unique gaming experience. We hope this dapp can bring more nostalgic Nintendo fans into the crypto world in the upcoming year.
With all the fancy and action-packed online games out there, it can be easy to forget things of a simple nature such as the snake games. That is why we are so excited to see the introduction of games like JustSnake to the blockchain space in 2019. Powered by the Blockstack network, players can access the game with ease by signing into their Blockstack account. Ease of use and a lot of excitement and nostalgia is what makes JustSnake one of our favorite Blockstack games this year.
Is 2019 the Year of Dapp and What Should We Keep an Eye on in 2020?
As usual, we will break it down into details in our 2019 Annual Dapp Market Report with 2020 trends and share it with you very soon. Please stay tuned!
Until now, another year bites the dust.
Wishing you Happy Holidays from all of us at Dapp.com!
You can find the full review here.
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