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The time to bring a production-ready decentralized app to market has reduced substantially over recent years, thanks to the increasingly sophisticated nature of blockchain infrastructure. Whereas it used to take years to develop and test, even building entire chains from scratch, now it’s possible for dApps to be up and running on a Layer 2 platform within just a few months. However, this advantage is proving to be just the tip of the iceberg, as it’s helping apps like ApeX to benefit from networking effects, delivering a better user experience, and promoting further adoption.
After a difficult couple of years, the Web3 sector is looking forward to a renewed period of growth in 2024. Financial returns are one element of the bull market, but increased development activity and innovation are arguably even more important. However, one critical factor that will make the next development spurt different is that the infrastructure is now far more advanced.
For many years, developers have had to spend significant time and resources on bringing their dapps to mainnet production. Often, a substantial part of this could be spent on creating infrastructure or building workaround solutions to challenges with the infrastructure that was available. Even as late as around 2021, the bulk of development activity was still on Ethereum. While having so many dApps and services in one ecosystem offered networking advantages, it made for a slow and clunky user experience thanks to Ethereum’s well-documented scalability issues.
The generation of platforms that came after, such as Solana or BNB Chain, offered some improvements in terms of speed, scalability, and fees but often came at the expense of security. Furthermore, developers on these chains were often trapped in a walled garden without access to the networking advantages of being part of the Ethereum ecosystem.
Leveling Up with Layer 2s
Over the last year or two, Layer 2s have come to prominence, and are now proving to be the game-changer that developers have been seeking. Layer 2s solve Ethereum’s scalability challenges, typically by processing transactions off the main chain and batching them for validation via Ethereum. In doing so, they offer faster processing with higher throughput and far lower transaction fees than would be possible for dApps based natively on Ethereum. However, by having transactions validated in batches via Ethereum’s network consensus, Layer 2 platforms can still benefit from the base layer’s robust security.
Having laid the foundations, Layer 2 platforms are now also making it easier than ever for dApps to deploy at pace and at scale. Providers such as StarkEx, which offers on-chain exchange trading tools, deliver proven infrastructure that can be customized, tested, and up and running in a matter of months.
This rapid deployment capability enables dApps like ApeX to provide an ultra-fast, high-performance experience to its users. ApeX was conceived with a view to solving the challenges of legacy DEXs, providing an order book model for its cross-margined perpetual contracts. So it chose StarkEx to ensure low fees and best execution while focusing on building a friendly user interface, including features like social trading, that works for traders at all levels.
Enhancing UX through Partnerships
Leveraging existing L2 infrastructure means that ApeX has been able to tap into an established network of industry experts around the ecosystem, providing even more benefits in terms of scalability, security, and user experience. The project has partnered with automated trading platforms, including Astrabit, enabling users to leverage algorithms and mathematical models through trading bots and execute trades based on pre-set parameters.
ApeX also collaborates with Stork, which provides oracle network services, giving traders access to accurate, real-time price data on all assets available on ApeX Pro. A further partnership with X-explore helps the platform detect incidents of wash trading or Sybil attacks, ensuring the integrity of trading activity.
Through these partnerships, ApeX aims to make trading more efficient, user-friendly, secure, and, ultimately, help traders become more profitable.
Projects that are going the extra mile to leverage the network effects of being part of an ecosystem and stand out from the competition are more likely to reap the rewards in terms of users, creating a positive cycle of adoption and innovation.
Crypto and Web3 apps have long been accused of failing to deliver on user experience as developers grappled with the need to either build infrastructure or rely on platforms that weren’t fit for purpose. However, the sector has managed substantial expansion even in spite of these barriers. Now that the tools and platforms are in place to support rapid deployment, along with an ecosystem focused on fostering collaboration, there is fertile ground for exponential future growth.
