AstroSwap needs no introduction for investors who have been keeping tabs on crypto developments in the last six months or so. After asuccessful IDO on ADAPad in early October 2021, ASTRO–the native token of AstroSwap, soared to more than 33x higher than IDO prices, outperforming the then resurgent Bitcoin and Ethereum by several folds.
AstroSwap is launching from the scalable Velas blockchain that boasts of high transaction processing speeds of 75k—incomparable to any other blockchain in the world. The developers of AstroSwap are ambitious – they have just launched a fully functional and rewarding decentralized exchange adopting the Automated Market Maker (AMM) model like Uniswap but with extra goodies like the ability of users to pay transaction fees either using Velas (VLX) or Cardano (ADA) in late January 2022.And what’s even better, is that AstroSwap will refund all transaction fees to users who swap, by sending them 1 VLX. How about that?
The AstroSwap development team is allocating 45 percent of the total ASTRO in circulation to their staking reserve to always sustain their high APYs. It is critical because investors naturally lean on projects with incentives to line up their pockets with valuable tokens as rewards for taking part in their burgeoning ecosystem. Besides the high APYs, the project plans to release an aggressive yield farming program with auto-liquidity locking. Later on, in Q1 2022, a lottery system will also be introduced as part of the core benefits the DEX has to offer
At the same time, AstroSwap is keen on interoperability. Accordingly, the development team plans to build bridges to other protocols for the rapid and secure transfer of tokens for the convenience of holders. Aware of the significance of using established infrastructure, AstroSwap recognizes the importance of the multi-chain MetaMask browser wallet, and will integrate MetaMask for its’ Velas chain operations, which will be a game-changer. Most importantly, it will create a convenient pad for users in other DeFi portals in Ethereum or the Binance Smart Chain to migrate to AstroSwap quickly.
Later, AstroSwap plans to operate on Cardano—a peer-reviewed blockchain built from the ground-up — giving its users high-quality DeFi services and tools, a fitting solution that’s the polar opposite of existing swapping options currently on Cardano. This will be enabled through the Swapz bridge which supports the Nami wallet–Cardano’s answer to MetaMask. Technically, the Swapz bridge makes AstroSwap multi-chain and multi-coin. Once on Cardano, AstroSwap will be a layer-2 with EVM compatibility tagging endless benefits, and in due time, AstroSwap will also deploy on Solana.
Talking of Cardano, Genius Yield is yet another attractive DeFi platform in development scheduled for launch in the next few weeks. The creators of Genius Yield are building what they say is the first non-custodial decentralized exchange with concentrated liquidity and a yield optimizer on Cardano. Because of Cardano’s unique EUTxO structure, Genius Yield creators will release an order book-based exchange different, from first principles, with standard AMM models.
Genius Yield developers are all about automation, risk reduction, and profit maximization. Their overall objective is to democratize DeFi using an all-in-one solution for quick deployment of algorithmic trading strategies and yield optimization to benefit users directly. For instance, by introducing a concentrated liquidity system, liquidity suppliers can freely choose a price range to provide liquidity, maximizing returns.
At the moment, Genius Yield is conducting their ISPO following their successful seed funding round, where they received $4.2 million from investors. Specifically, the DeFi platform utilizes Cardano’s unique delegation structure in this ISPO for fairness, inclusivity, and security. The ISPO will end after 36 epochs in June 2022—or earlier–after launching on December 15, 2021.
During this time, the team will distribute 10 million GENS to ADA delegators. These tokens will be airdropped at the end of the ISPO. A key takeaway is that Genius Yield ISPO participants are unfazed despite crypto market doldrums. There are over 7.4k ADA delegators who have staked more than 99.6 ADA in the four Genius Yield staking pools. Ahead of their Genius Yield Academy and DEX launch in the next few weeks, Genius Yield has been striking high-profile partnerships with other Cardano-based protocols.
2021 was the year NFTs and blockchain gaming took off. No doubt, given the impressive numbers, this year could be a continuation. Many blockchain gaming projects and metaverses incorporate NFTs, but only a few stand out like Next Earth. It is easy to see why. Next Earth is leveraging the blockchain to create a metaverse to manage virtual land NFTs mirroring Earth. Since they exist on the blockchain, users can trade virtual land as they please from Next Earth’s internal marketplace. The project is already a success. There are over 30k landowners and 180k registered users from where more than 2.4k transactions have been moved through the internal marketplace. Users trading Next Earth’s virtual land have subsequently racked over $650k in pure profits. A notable sale was by a user who bought the New York MET for $100 before flipping it for $32k.
Meanwhile, the platform has generated over $8 million in revenue. Out of this, $800k-or 10 percent of Next Earth’s revenue–was donated to charities like The Ocean Cleanup, Amazon Watch, and more. This aligns with their objective of a sustainable world—and therefore, the metaverse. Down the line, Next Earth plans to introduce NFT skins, launch their native token—NXTT, add more business functionality, create a non-profit foundation, and launch a play-to-earn (P2E) system that will reward users for their contributions. The NXTT will be central to their P2E system because it would incentivize fast participation where contributors can easily cash out their NXTT rewards to cash in the real world.
More growth is expected on several crypto fronts like DeFi, NFTs, and the metaverse. While investors pour millions into the space, it is best to settle on high-quality and solid blockchain projects. AstroSwap, Genius Yield, and Next Earth have already demonstrated to be a cut above the rest, and we’ll certainly be following them this year.
There is no shortage of exciting projects to explore in the high-octane crypto world. A simple search can be the start of a deep rabbit hole for a curious user. Notably, there are exciting innovations, especially in DeFi, as fourth-generation low-fee, high throughput blockchains like Velas and Cardano gain traction and strike valuable partnerships.
Interestingly, developers are also unperturbed by correcting crypto prices. Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are down roughly 50 percent from their 2021 peaks. Instead, they continue to keep their eyes on the prize, confident in the market prospects, meaning a good stream of potential gems are making their way onto the market this month. Here’s our pick for the top 3 Crypto Projects this month to watch.
