Whatever way you look at it, 2024 is destined to be a huge year for crypto. Aside from the upcoming Bitcoin halving and expected BTC ETF approval in the first quarter, narratives are strengthening around tokenized real-world assets, blockchain security, AI-powered crypto gaming, institutional digital asset adoption and much more.
From DeFi and SocialFi to decentralized computing, application-specific Layer-3s and the arrival of corporate stablecoins, the industry is maturing and expectations are steadily rising. Here are ten web3 projects worth keeping an eye on over the next 12 months.
Salus (Security)
Blockchain security remains a hot topic in web3 in the year ahead. How can it not when projects incurred losses totalling $1.7 billion in 2023? In September’s attack on the Mixin protocol alone, some $200 million was stolen – yikes!
Full-suite cybersecurity firm Salus is one of the leading platforms helping projects face these evolving and complex security threats head-on. Backed by Binance Labs, the firm’s services include automated threat detection, comprehensive smart contract audits, web3 penetration tests, and Zero Knowledge (ZK) based solutions.
Late last year, deep-learning research conducted by Salus was published in Scientific Reports, a sub-journal of Nature, shining a spotlight on a solution (Lightning Cat) designed to identify smart contract vulnerabilities. According to the paper, Lightning Cat’s capacity to self-learn can help it detect ever-changing attack vectors. With bad actors likely to ramp up their activities – particularly if a bull market materializes – Salus is likely to have a very busy 12 months.
Blocksquare (Real-World Assets)
The tokenization of real-world assets has long been proposed as a means of making blockchain palatable to a wider audience. We have already seen several protocols tokenize hard assets like gold and silver, and now there are those that can simplify real estate investing by adding bricks and mortar to the blockchain.
Blocksquare is one of them. Built on Ethereum, the real estate tokenization protocol enables any property to be converted into 100,000 tokens, broadening access to the market for millions. Led by three co-founders with over 40 years’ experience in tech, business, legal, sales and products, the company’s white-label platform relies on smart contracts to automate agreements and eliminate the need for intermediaries.
Among other benefits, Blocksquare offers 24/7 peer-to-peer trading for all tokenized assets, real-time performance and monitoring tracking, and APIs for tech-savvy teams. Since being founded in 2017, the firm has tokenized over $75 million worth of real-world assets, comprising 87 properties in 19 countries. Expect the tokenized RWA hype to continue and for Blocksquare and others to absorb investor interest.
Andromeda (Software Layer)
The first cross-chain, composable, on-chain Operating System, Andromeda is made up of several interoperating systems (tooling, app interfaces, etc) that work in tandem to bring clarity and convenience to users. The decentralized software layer, known as aOS, enables developers to access a suite of tools they can use to build dApps. It also harnesses the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol to enable cross-chain composability and faster, no-code build times.
Last year was a big one for Andromeda with a Token Generation Event (TGE), and slew of partnerships (Secret Network, Terra, Zokyo); and there are no plans to slow down: the OS will soon launch on Sei, Oraichain and Axelar. With developers continually competing to create impactful dApps, Andromeda’s powerful tools will be in high demand in 2024.
Friendzone (SocialFi)
SocialFi platforms give creators the ability to create and monetize exclusive content, and investors are increasingly bullish about web3’s answer to social networks. The brainchild of venture builder Scalene, Friendzone introduces a novel model for a sustainable and scalable social capital marketplace, utilizing an adaptive bonding curve to process market feedback in real-time.
At its core, the platform believes social interactions should have the potential to generate value, and so users are compelled to build ‘squads’ with their pals to complete weekly quests, ascend tiers, and earn $FZE tokens: Friendzone refers to it as “friend farming.” Uniquely, Friendzone features a staking mechanism that gives creators unprecedented control over customizing their engagement with followers and there’s also the ability to create personalized micro-economies at scale. Could SocialFi be a big winner in the next bull run?
Kresus (Wallet SuperApp)
Intense competition exists between wallet providers, each keen to convince crypto natives and novices that they have the best, most secure solution. One of the market’s latest entries is Kresus, maker of a ‘SuperApp’ which purports to be the perfect option – not least because it’s goof-proof: users simply cannot get locked out of their accounts. A reassuring feature given the fear many people have of losing their private keys.
Kresus isn’t just a crypto wallet, it’s also a mobile app where users can buy digital assets, trade them, mint their own NFTs and access web3 education resources. A raft of security features – such as time-delayed withdrawal capability and the ability to assign ‘guardians’ to protect your account – are also intended to eliminate human error completely. Last year, Kresus raised $25 million to support its development. This year, it’ll be using that war chest to fulfill its ambition of becoming the industry’s go-to web3 gateway.
Oasys (Gaming Blockchain)
An eco-friendly blockchain dedicated to gaming, Oasys made more moves than just about any web3 project last year, sealing strategic partnerships with a succession of major industry players including SEGA, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, and Ubisoft.
Notable for its lightning-fast transactions and zero gas fees, Oasys is committed to reshaping the on-chain gaming landscape by empowering developers to onboard more players. One of the ways it seeks to achieve this is through its Layer1 Hub-Layer, which uses L2 tech to streamline the creation and deployment of games. This year, Oasys will celebrate the one-year anniversary of its mainnet launch and look to leverage its powerful partner network to take web3 gaming to the next level. You’d be a fool to bet against them.
REPUBLIK (Web3 Creator Tools)
The creator economy is a $100 billion plus industry and a flurry of tooling platforms have emerged in recent years promising to make life easier for those with a large following. One of these is REPUBLIK, a Singapore-based SocialFi platform that leverages blockchain and smart contracts to incentivize community-building and social interactions (interact-to-earn). Its primary goal is to bridge the gap between web2 and web3 to deliver a user-friendly experience akin to popular social networking apps – only with a gamified rewards system at its core.
Among other nifty features, REPUBLIK offers in-app NFT minting, live streaming, the ability to tip creators, and community governance. Having already built an audience of over 1.5 million registered users, of whom around half are monthly active users, the platform will be looking to build on its success in 2024.
Alien Worlds (Metaverse)
The world’s most-played blockchain metaverse, Alien Worlds boasts over 400,000 unique monthly wallets and more than 370 million lifetime transactions. Available on three chains – WAX, Ethereum and BNB Chain – this community-governed metaverse compels players to participate in interstellar missions, ‘mine’ a native crypto token (Trilium), collect NFTs and also compete for grants from a funding program called Galactic Hubs.
Late last year, Alien Worlds announced the introduction of Tokenized Lore, a concept that incentivizes its community to canonize the game’s mythology through community voting. Effectively, Alien Worlds’ players get to decide which stories and characters make up its cosmos, and these assets can in turn be used in media such as games, animated series, comics and art. With on-chain gaming growing in popularity, Alien Worlds will be looking to cement its #1 position over the next 12 months.
Ringfence (IP Protection for Creators)
Friendzone and REPUBLIK help creators monetize their output, but what happens when the avalanche of generative AI tools makes it difficult for those people to protect their intellectual property? This is where Ringfence comes in. The soon-to-launch platform leverages AI to help creators verify ownership of their work and control how AI models use their data. Moreover, it ensures artists get paid whenever their work inspires a new piece of AI-generated content, whether it’s a painting or a story.
Ringfence is not anti-AI; indeed, it uses multi-modal AI engines to help supercharge users’ creativity. Its focus, however, is on fairly remunerating artists for their work. One way it does this is through use of a metadata tagging system, which ensures the integrity of output both on- and off-chain. Ringfence subscribers also enjoy the freedom of unlimited cloud storage.
Aleph Zero (Privacy)
OKX may have recently delisted a flurry of privacy coins after facing regulatory pressure, but privacy remains a hot commodity in blockchain – and that won’t change in 2024. Hence the success of projects like Aleph Zero, an enterprise-grade, privacy-preserving Layer-1 blockchain that recently welcomed Deutsche Telekom to its validator network.
Aleph Zero’s USP is that it furnishes the deployment of highly scalable, ZK privacy-enhanced products across various verticals, from DeFi to gaming. According to co-founder Antoni Zolciak, 2024 could be the year privacy apps go mainstream, as users “get a clear and tangible picture of the value Web3 can provide to their day-to-day lives when they can jump on a privacy-preserving DNS or a private DEX.” Watch this space.
Keeping one’s finger on the pulse in this industry is a full-time job, but we’re confident that these ten projects will very much be part of the collective conversation in the year ahead. Buckle up: it’s gonna be an interesting year.
Image: Depositphotos
