A glance at the key factors you don't wanna miss:
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Due to the IMMENSE evolution of technology, the reflex action has emphatically triggered the rise of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain technologies.
As the market continues to expand, several promising projects have entered the ecosystem, each adding more value to legacy blockchains while opening the gateway to a myriad of real-world use cases.
And... the list is getting really dense day by day!
Traditional financial systems have failed to reach the majority of the global population, more so in developing and third-world countries.
With the rise of digital currencies, the global unbanked population finally has an opportunity to access an entire ecosystem of decentralized financial (DeFi) products.
Countries battling hyperinflation are increasingly viewing cryptocurrencies as more than just a store of value.
As more crypto-centric brands enter the market to convey novel solutions that connect blockchain technology to real-world use cases, the total capitalization growth of cryptocurrencies has mirrored the expanded offerings.
With prominent exchanges like CoinZoom, PayPal, Stripe, among others, supporting crypto payments, digital tokens are quickly gaining momentum as a medium of exchange.
The use of cryptocurrencies received another significant push when El Salvador officially recognized bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender.
Following the announcement and the influx of crypto-centric services in the country, including ATMs, remittance services, and acceptance of these payments by prominent brands.
Including Starbucks, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut, several other developing and third-world countries are considering the benefits of implementing crypto as legal tender.
A slew of promising blockchain projects is being developed to match this broadening adoption trend, each designed to harness the power of blockchain technology while offering the infrastructure that supports real-world use cases.
Among the plethora of projects, some of the advanced use cases vying to accelerate the mainstream adoption of digital currencies include the following.
Centrifuge, founded in 2017, is on a mission to develop economic opportunities for everyone vis-a-vis global trade. Currently, the program targets small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
Dubbed as the first decentralized asset financing protocol, Centrifuge aims to connect lenders and borrowers transparently and cost-efficiently while removing traditional finance's inefficiencies.
With Centrifuge, businesses can tokenize real-world assets (RWA) and use them as collateral to access financing through Tinlake, its asset-backed lending decentralized application (dApp).
Via Tinlake, collateralized assets are posted as collateral for on-chain borrowing, in a process entirely managed by smart contracts.
As a result, DeFi investors can gain access to other sources of yield-bearing returns in an unpredictable market.
Thanks to Centrifuge, it is now possible to penetrate the real-world asset market (RWA) that was previously untapped.
The protocol allows users to tokenize assets like bills, real estate, receivables, and more into Centrifuge Chain NFTs (non-fungible tokens) leveraged to access loans.
One of the first projects to run a para chain on the Polkadot network, Centrifuge connects with all other Polkadot-compatible chains, thereby increasing interoperability and allowing off-chain assets to access financing in the DeFi ecosystem.
Backed by prominent investors like Fenbushi, Fintech Collective, HashCIB, Moonwhale, Crane Venture Partners, and others, Centrifuge raised $8M from a seed round in 2018 and an additional $4.3M from a SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) in 2020.
Second-layer or layer-2 (L2) solutions are the newest addition to blockchain technology, helping optimize and overcome the speed and scalability issues holding back legacy chains.
As of now, most DeFi projects are deployed on Ethereum, which has led to performance and scalability hurdles.
While most layer-2 solutions are under development and deployment for Ethereum, RSK is the first layer-2 solution for the Bitcoin network designed to help businesses deploy DeFi products on the oldest and most secure chain.
RSK operates on a sidechain, meaning it does not undermine processing power from the main chain, allowing it to scale around 100 transactions per second without sacrificing decentralization or Bitcoin's security features.
Besides being the most secure smart contract platform globally, RSK has rolled out its interoperability bridge to connect the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, enabling cross-chain trading.
Aside from improving the speed and scalability of transactions, the platform has enabled smart contracts within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Several promising projects like the DeFi application Money on Chain and decentralized trading and lending platform Sovryn are already leveraging RSK's infrastructure to ensure fast transactions, high throughput, low gas costs, and unmatched security.
While many novel solutions are addressing legacy speed, scalability, and cost issues, Swiss blockchain software development company Jelurida has developed a promising environmentally friendly solution laden with features that support an abundance of real-world use cases.
The Ardor blockchain, developed and maintained by Jelurida, includes a unique architecture of interoperable parent-child chains.
The ecosystem is highly scalable and uses a 100% Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, making it notably energy-efficient and not dependent on expensive hardware like other blockchains that rely on Proof-of-Work (PoW).
Jelurida's ecosystem offers public, private, and hybrid blockchain solutions designed to solve real-world problems.
The flexibility of the underlying infrastructure allows developers to build highly customized gamification projects using blockchain technology.
Among the many notable projects, the platform collaborated with the Austrian Institute of Technology and other crypto firms to develop a unique proof of concept, HotCity, that enabled residents to submit micro-sources of waste heat and earn tokens in exchange.
The project received a €310,000 grant from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology.
Cycle4Value, funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, is another project that utilizes Jelurida's infrastructure to reward citizens for riding cycles.
An initiative introduced by the Austrian government for reducing road traffic and boosting public health, the project is already deployed on the Ignis child chain of Ardor.
With such promising solutions to bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies will increasingly be paralleled by improvements in the underlying technology needed to support real-world use.
At least that’s what we are hoping for! Needless to say, in the coming future, blockchain technology will rule the financial market. Source
