BlackRock’s launch of the first Bitcoin spot ETF in January has reignited interest in the wider blockchain industry, sparking more institutional investment and renewed enthusiasm for crypto industries such as DeFi, GameFi, NFTs and more.
As crypto prices rise again, many believe that yet more growth is on the horizon as we approach summer 2024, so what better time to take a look at some of the most promising blockchains to watch out for right now?
1. Polygon
Polygon is perhaps the most recognizable Layer-2 scaling network for Ethereum, making it possible for EVM developers to rapidly scale their dApps.
Its network is linked to the Ethereum blockchain and is compatible with any project built on that chain. Its primary purpose is to boost the scalability, flexibility and sovereignty of Ethereum dApps, while still providing strong security and full interoperability with the world’s top smart contract blockchain.
Polygon’s native ERC-20 token is MATIC, which is compatible with other ERC-20 tokens, and provides utility such as paying gas fees, securing the network and governance.
Polygon has emerged as one of the most prominent Ethereum scaling networks because of its rapid speed, which results from its carbon-neutral consensus mechanism that’s able to confirm transactions in a single block, with an average block processing time of just 39.7 seconds. It also offers consistently low gas fees and interoperability with Ethereum’s massive ecosystem.
As the host network of thousands of dApps and also stablecoins such as Tether and USDC, Polygon has attracted interest from well known companies such as Meta Platforms, Stripe and banks like Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Given its already strong foundation, it’s poised to grow immensely if and when the broader crypto industry takes off.
2. Merlin Chain
Merlin Chain is a Layer-2 network that aims to bring the magic of DeFi, GameFi, community coins and more to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The project is being developed by Bitmap Tech and aims to shake up Bitcoin by introducing genuine utility for the world’s most famous crypto asset. It does this with a number of technical innovations, including its use of ZK-Rollups to boost the efficiency, security, and scalability of Bitcoin. Another component is its use of on-scale fraud-proof mechanisms that works by reverifying each transaction proof that has already been verified by its ZK-Rollups to ensure no mistakes. There’s also a segregated oracle network that runs in the background. Merlin leverages the Decentralized Oracle Network to fetch data from external sources, so its smart contracts can leverage this information to bring more utility to Bitcoin-native assets.
Merlin’s native token is MERL, which is used for governance, transactions, and more, enabling users to interact with its growing ecosystem of dApps and vote on various issues up for discussion within the community.
Most exciting is the rapid build-out of Merlin’s ecosystem, with many projects building on its platform that enable Bitcoin holders to utilize their BTC in exciting new ways. They include infrastructure projects such as GeniiData, which is a native script data platform, and UniCross, an engraving tool for Bitcoin ordinals.
Others include the BTC-native stablecoin BitSmiley, the AMM trading protocol Surf Protocol, and community coin-focused projects such as VOYA and HUHU. Merlin is also making waves in SocialFi with Influpia and in GameFi with Bitmap War.
3. Fetch.ai
A list of blockchains for 2024 wouldn’t be complete without a mention of AI, which is the hottest trend in tech today. Fetch.ai has created an AI blockchain that aims to take legacy systems and applications and help them to integrate AI capabilities and services.
Besides hosting the infrastructure for AI, Fetch.ai also offers access to numerous AI agents that perform tasks such as connecting, searching, transacting and creating content, allowing them to help humans complete all kinds of work. Developers can build on these AI agents, customizing them to perform many different jobs.
The network is powered by the FET token, which is a sovereign Layer-1 coin that has seen its value grow enormously this year, among the best performing cryptocurrencies in 2024 to date.
One reason for that recent growth may be the launch of DeltaV, which is described as an “open platform for the new AI economy”. It’s a search-based AI chat interface powered by Fetch.ai’s agents, and is capable of understanding written conversations, similar to ChatGPT, providing cohesive responses to almost any query. It’s primarily designed as a kind of virtual assistant for e-commerce platforms, enabling them to integrate a comprehensive chat experience that can help shoppers to find the items they’re looking for by describing them with natural language.
The AI industry is accelerating fast and as the need for decentralized models becomes more apparent, Fetch.ai has a fantastic opportunity to increase its relevance.
4. Nolus
Nolus is transforming DeFi with the concept of “leasing”, enabling users to secure more capital upfront than what they currently own, borrowing from the concept of “buy now, pay later” in the retail world.
The Nolus DeFi lease allows users to get around the need to overcollateralize loans that’s common in traditional DeFi, which creates a barrier to access, not to mention inefficiencies such as locking up capital that could help to minimize counterparty risks.
With Nolus, users still have to provide collateral, but they can obtain financing of up to 150% on that deposit, meaning it’s really an undercollateralized loan. In addition, the liquidation process is also more flexible with Nolus, as it will only liquidate a part of the user’s collateral if the asset price falls by more than 30%, meaning borrowers still have a chance to recover their position. It makes the claim that its liquidation rates are around 40% lower than average, compared to other protocols. As another benefit, Nolus also locks its interest rates into smart contracts as soon as they are created, meaning users don’t have to worry about variable interest, as they do with many other DeFi protocols.
Unlike many other protocols, Nolus has built its very own Layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain, using the Cosmos SDK. Smart contracts are written in Rust, and executed using the CosmWasm sandbox model. What this means is that it’s compatible with other chains within the Cosmos ecosystem, and extremely secure.
Nolus’ alternative DeFi model has a lot going for it, and its total value locked has grown from just over $1 million at the start of the year to more than $3.1 million today.
5. R3 Corda
R3’s Corda has attracted a lot of debate over whether it’s truly a blockchain or not, and the company itself adds to this ambiguity, referring to its as “both a blockchain and not a blockchain”.
What Corda is, is a decentralized ledger that’s actually somewhat centralized. It’s aimed at large enterprises, banks, financial services providers and insurers, providing them with an alternative, blockchain-like experience. It relies on a novel consensus mechanism, where transactions are linked cryptographically, but not batched into blocks. Instead, every transaction is processed immediately, in real time.
Corda has built up a loyal following, with some of its customers including HSBC, Bank of America, Intel and Microsoft, who use it to facilitate transactions and build smart contract-based dApps. It provides tools for automating business logic that can be executed across organizational boundaries, and a service called Corda Payments for companies that need to integrate distributed payment capabilities into their apps.
Corda also supports a growing ecosystem of CorDapps, offering its very own launchpad to enable developers to get funding for their projects.
Given the strong traction Corda has achieve so far, many believe that it’s destined to become a leading player in industries such as insurance, where it can facilitate rapid payouts to claimants, and also “central bank digital coins”, or CBDCs, which are a digital version of traditional fiat currencies that many countries are experimenting with.
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