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The first quarter of 2021 brought many new exciting updates to the blockchain industry. Over a half-billion dollars worth of NFTs were transacted, nearly $50 billion was locked in various DeFi protocols, and mainstream adoption exploded with the likes of VISA, Tesla, and other institutions actively participating in the market. Without question, one of the driving factors to this growth was the consistent innovation emerging from blockchain and DeFi-specific startups.
As we look towards the future, these innovative startups are going to be at the forefront of global adoption by helping solve challenges like scalability, liquidity, and safety. On the consumer side, we are starting to see dApps with real use cases and traction arise. The following list represents some of the most promising companies and their respective launches scheduled in Q2.
1. Crowny
Crowny is an innovative advertising platform built and supported by Solana and the Serum Foundation. Using the Crowny app, users and advertisers are incentivized to display and engage with relevant content that benefits all parties. Brands can also leverage the platform to create free loyalty programs, complete with a robust content delivery system and analytics.
The platform is helping solve one of the most challenging aspects of advertising: providing the right brands with the right people in a secure and data-protected manner. Crowny is targeting an IDO in mid-April 2021, with support from some of the leading blockchain investors.
2. Equalizer
Equalizer is the first dedicated flash lending marketplace connecting liquidity providers and borrowers while democratizing access to flash loans. Equalizer will offer users the chance to access loans, provide liquidity in return for rewards, and benefit from the upside of the platform. This includes low lending and dynamic fees, multi-chain capabilities, and a unique governance model using Equalizer’s native governance token (EQZ).
Built by a team of seasoned blockchain entrepreneurs, Equalizer is well poised to drastically impact the DeFi market in 2021. Equalizer will be launching an IDO on Paid Ignition and on Zeroswap (BSC) on April 09, 2021.
3. Genesis Shards
Genesis Shards is the first marketplace for pre-IDO tokens on NFTs, helping reimagine NFTs as DeFi options rather than just collectibles. Genesis Shards looks to solve the growing OTC liquidity and trust problem in the pre-IDO market and has built out a team of DeFi experts to do the job. This will unlock a new world of opportunities for fungible tokens, investors, and projects looking to tap into Genesis Shards’ expansive DeFi product suite.
Recently, Genesis Shards announced it will conduct the first-ever Dual-IDO with an IDO on Polkastarter and an IDO on Binance Smartchain in April 2021. In recent weeks, Genesis Shards has announced partnerships with Kylin Network, PolkaFoundry, and Polygon.
4. Beyond Finance
Beyond Finance is a game-changing protocol and ecosystem bringing synthetic assets to the world in a convenient, inclusionary, and decentralized approach. Using Beyond, users will be able to mint, stake, earn, and trade synthetic assets on the company’s decentralized exchange, without jeopardizing security or liquidity. The company is helping solve one of the blockchain industry’s most pressing challenges around reliable and accessible synthetic assets infrastructure.
Beyond will be launching an IDO on DuckDAO and Ignition (+DAO Maker Pool) on April 12th, allowing community members a chance to acquire Beyond’s native token (BYN) at the public sale price. Beyond Finance previously raised $7.5 million in their private round from leading funds including Moonwhale Ventures, A195, Rarestone Capital, DuckDao, and more.
5. Cryptocurrencies.AI
Cryptocurrencies.AI (CCAI) is a next-generation trading platform complete with advanced trading tools for spot/futures traders and the world’s fastest decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Solana. CCAI’s DEX, which is already live, provides a strong alternative to Ethereum-based DEXs that are riddled with high fees and congestion. CCAI’s DEX benefits from Solana’s low fees and faster transaction times, without sacrificing user functionality.
Led by Bloomberg alum Hisham Khan, CCAI will also launch a centralized exchange that provides the tools necessary to onboard both novice and institutional level traders. This includes features such as Smart Trading and Orders, TradingView alerts, portfolio tracking, and more. The company has already partnered with Binance to gear up for an upcoming launch this quarter.
6. Polkalokr
Polkalokr is a highly customizable escrow platform for token economies built on Polkadot. The company’s multi-chain token escrow platform will put token distribution in the hands of network participants through governance-as-a-service. A truly unique value proposition, Polkalokr removes the human element and adds full customization to its product suite in order to provide a simplified solution to current market challenges around transparency and liquidity.
Polkalokr’s highly-anticipated IDO will take place on April 07, 2021, on Polkastarter. With one of the largest pre-launch communities of over 100,000 people, Polkalokr is set to make an impact on the DeFi industry in Q2 2021.
7. XFai
XFai is a DEX liquidity oracle aiming to solve liquidity inefficiencies on DEXs through their revolutionary set of autonomous liquidity management smart contracts. The company’s DEX Liquidity Oracle (DLO) allows small to mid-cap tokens to start earning APY on their token holdings in a safe and simple manner with no risk of slippage or exorbitant fees.
XFai will be conducting the world’s first Liquidity Generation Event (LGE) on April 8, 2021 and a dual on Paid Ignition and Poolz on April 29, 2021. The company also recently announced a strategic investment and partnership with Roger Ver.
8. AIOZ
AIOZ Network is a Layer 1 content delivery network (CDN) built with blockchain technology. Using a decentralized approach, AIOZ will revolutionize the way digital media is created and consumed. The company’s CDN network uses p2p edge Nodes for storing, streaming, and transferring data vs. traditional data centers. This creates a faster, cheaper, and more dynamic platform for content streaming.
Currently, AIOZ has over 7,000 nodes live and a working product that can be experienced at AIOZ Tube. AOIZ conducted an IDO on both Paid Ignition and BSCPad on April 2, 2021, which saw incredible support and participation from the community.
9. The Crypto Prophecies
The Crypto Prophecies is an innovative peer-to-peer price prediction game that uses NFT characters (called Crypto Prophets) to access games and wagers. The Crypto Prophecies uses a real-time points-based system to reward players for their accuracy in predicting how the candles in the game (Battle Arena) will close. Winners will walk away with the wagered amount minus a 3% Kingdom fee.
The Crypto Prophecies combines gaming, NFTs, and rewards into one experience. The game will be built on Polygon, offering users a quick and inexpensive way to compete and collect as the NFTs will be available on OpenSea. Keep an eye out for the company’s upcoming IDO.
10. GlobeDX “Globe”
Globe is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange looking to become the “Coinbase for derivatives” by offering robust features to both institutional and retail traders. Using Globe, traders can access a wide range of tools such as shorting via margin trading options and perpetual futures contracts, while earning some of the highest trading rebates in the industry (5 to 40%). Globe is expected to announce an upcoming IDO in the following weeks. The company is backed by Pantera, Y Combinator, Draper Dragon, and more.
11. Sigmadex
Sigmadex is a Polkadot-based decentralized perpetual liquidity protocol merging DeFi, blockchain technology, and game theory. Sigmadex will be able to achieve equilibrium that outperforms existing collateralized liquidity models by involving risk optimized by penalty and reward mechanics. Liquidity providers will be offered various short and long-term incentives based on collective models and multiple layers of rewards.
Sigmadex eliminates the need for having to trust any intermediaries, is governed by the community, and is fully gas efficient by utilizing the Substrate framework. With their private round recently closed, Sigmadex is one project to keep a close eye on.
12. Relite Finance
Relite Finance is a cross-chain lending protocol built on Polkadot with a specific goal of democratizing lending and borrowing for people around the world. To accomplish this, Relite has built a user-friendly and fee-optimized platform that is interoperable, fast, and convenient. The company’s native governance token (RELI) will be used to reward users, can be staked to earn additional rewards, and offer community participation in the company’s DAO. This is one project not to miss leading into Q2.
13. Orakuru
Orakuru is a decentralized network of independent oracle nodes and off-chain data focused exclusively on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Given the nascency of BSC, there are limited oracle options available as reliable data sources. Orakuru’s data will be available for on-chain usage in DEXs, prediction markets, insurance, lending, and more, using their feeds to power different dApps. Orakuru will also take the essence of BSC’s community-centric approach to offer a community-governed oracle.
Currently, Orakuru has seven experienced validators and will recruit more validators later in the year based on how many ORK tokens are being staked by a candidate. Orakuru is launching in April as the first official project on Kickpad’s launchpad.
